The sun today wasn’t enough to raise temperatures to what we saw just a few days ago, but today’s low 50s will be the highest for about a week.

The week ahead looks cooler than we have been, but temperatures will be close to normal overall, with highs mainly in the 40s. By the end of next week, we should be warmer , with temperatures closer to 60°F. Just beyond this range, it looks like we will see more warm air.

Looking ahead to the rest of March and early April, our medium—to long-range signals indicate that the warm air will continue for a while.

One caveat: the latest 8-14-day hazard outlook brings a slight risk of heavy snow to our doorstep at the end of March.

I’m not too confident in the snow panning out, but returning to colder temperatures late in the month is certainly possible. The good news is that it looks like the cold will quickly be replaced by more warm air.

This last outlook extends into mid-April and clearly indicates warmer-than-normal temperatures. What concerns me a little is that the most recent outlook for all of April paints a different picture.

For this monthly outlook to be verified, temperatures would either need to be significantly below normal during the second half of April, or that cold snap at the end of March could end up being quite cold and extend into the first few days of April before we warm up again.

The theme for precipitation for this entire outlook, which runs from next weekend through April, is above normal.

This has been the trend since mid-February (at least), and we’ve seen plenty of dry time and pleasant weather mixed in with some rainy days.

All in all, the first chunk of spring looks warm and wet overall. That’s not to say we won’t see cold air and even snow, but the odds are we will see more warm air than cold with a relatively active storm pattern.

My only concern about this outlook is that if verified, it would likely provide multiple opportunities for severe weather that we haven’t had in the last few years. Time will tell.

We are clouding up now, but we should see more sun by tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow will be cooler, with highs maxing out around 40°F. Sunday looks messy, with occasional light rain/snow showers and temps in the low to mid-30s.