First Alert: Pattern trends wetter over the next few days

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - More quiet weather and warm weather is on the way for our Wednesday... after a cloudy to the morning, afternoon sunshine has made it a very mild afternoon. Temperatures are hanging out in the 80s, which is warmer than normal for early April. Yesterday we climbed to 89° in Montgomery, setting a new record high temperature; today we have made it into the upper 80s again, but we will likely be just shy of the record books today.

An uptick in rain and thunderstorm chances will occur tomorrow with highs remaining very warm in the mid-80s. Those rain chances stand at 40%, but slightly higher rain and storm chances exist for Friday (that coverage is closer to 50%).

Neither day will feature severe weather or widespread rain. It’s entirely possible that your location stays dry both Thursday and Friday given the scattered nature of the rain and storms.

Unfortunately the weekend, or at least part of it, looks rather wet and gloomy. We’ve upped the rain chances to 60-70% from Friday night through early Saturday night.

And a big First Alert for a huge change to noticeably colder weather on Saturday. Temperatures will drop quickly Friday night; many areas from Montgomery points north and east will stay in the 50s all day. A biting easterly breeze will make it feel colder, along with the soaking rain adding insult to injury.

The good news is there still looks to be a big decrease in rain chances for Easter itself. The chance of wet weather sits at 20%. That bodes well for any Easter festivities you may have. Don’t be shocked if this 20% drops or rises just a little bit as models come into better agreement on the upcoming pattern.

Even if Easter in your town or city is completely dry, it will be on the cloudy side. I wouldn’t bank on seeing much sunshine this weekend. That will keep temperatures way down compared to where we are right now. The 80s will be long gone by Saturday as highs struggle to get into the mid-60s. More 60s are likely for Easter.

A slow warming trend will occur as next week progresses. From the upper 60s Monday to the lower 70s Tuesday and the mid-70s Wednesday. A return to 80-degree warmth is then likely to end next week.

One other thing regarding next week: We have added some cloud cover and a low-end chance of rain to the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. There is substantial disagreement among the long-range models during the Sunday-Tuesday window. However, due to the at least some support for rain during those three days, we’ve bumped rain chances up to 20%.

This is a good starting point at this time. Just be aware that the exact cloud cover and rain forecast will change at least a little bit early next week. That forecast is by no means set in stone.

As always, remember to download the free WSFA 12 News First Alert Weather app. That way you can gain the latest weather information from the First Alert Weather Team wherever you go. Just search WSFA Weather in the Apple App Store or Google Play store today.

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