Today – Sunday – will be a beautiful day in which to enjoy the last weekend of April. A back door cold front that slipped south of the area yesterday has ushered in mostly clear skies this morning, with a few high clouds tracking overhead Fredericksburg at the moment. With a light north wind today’s high looks to reach the 70 degree mark on outdoor thermometers, wonderful weather in which to enjoy outdoor activities around the region.
Having said that I hope you enjoy today’s weather as this coming work week offers little in the way of pleasant conditions. The same high pressure over eastern Canada and New England responsible for pushing the back door front through here will show its ugly side beginning Monday. That’s when the winds will turn easterly and another annoying cold air damming (CAD) wedge will set up overhead. The accompanying low clouds and damp Atlantic ocean air will be augmented by an approaching storm system that is creating a lot of severe weather out west this weekend.
The combination of the systems will serve to keep clouds over Fredericksburg most of this week. We will avoid the severe weather thanks to the stabilizing effects of the CAD wedge. However the ‘Burg will see plenty of rain out of this multi-day event. Here is a local slice of a graphic from the Weather Prediction Center that illustrates the total accumulation potential through Friday morning:
In case you can’t read the number under the “X” in south central Pennsylvania it reads 4.6 (inches of rain)…and note the same red shading covers the ‘Burg. LOTS of rain is on the way this week.
Thus after today the weather will turn cloudy and very wet. Temperatures during the early week will be on the chilly side (low 60s) under the wedge. Also NWS Sterling is already talking about a potential for midweek flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas due to the expected rain totals. If you need to get that grass mowed or fertilizer down you’d better get it done today!!
