Just as people pulled out their coats and scarves to face Monday’s cold weather — which included snow in some areas — in comes a week’s worth of spring.
The high for today will be near 63, going up even higher by Wednesday and Thursday to about 72, according to the National Weather Service.
FORECAST* Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 62. West wind around 10 mph. Partly cloudy tonight, with a low around 42. West wind around 5 mph.* Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. West wind between 5 and 10 mph. Partly cloudy Wednesday night, with a low around 45.* Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 72. A 40 percent chance of showers Thursday night. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.* Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.Source: National Weather Service
“As a low (pressure system) pulls away, there will be some lingering moisture in area … there’s a small chance of rain (this) morning,” said Greg Cole, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown, Tenn. “But we will start rebounding on our temperatures as high pressure moves into the area.”
The warmth can’t come too soon for Deborah Smith.
“I’m ready for spring and I think all the residents here are, too,” said Ms. Smith, activities director for the Alexian Village residence in Signal Mountain, where light snow Monday morning covered the roofs and some roads.
“If it’s sunny, (the residents) are out and about walking, taking their dogs out, planting flowers … but when it’s cold they are basically inside,” she said.
Whether the few flakes that fell Monday are the last snow the region sees before the summer is hard to predict, Mr. Cole said.
“April is generally an unstable period because you are going from spring, getting closer to summer,” he said. “So there are a lot of unstable air masses that invade the area but hopefully temperatures will be up enough to where we’ll be seeing just showers and thunderstorms.”
Although the drastic temperature changes might seem odd, Ms. Smith wasn’t surprised when she woke up Monday morning.
“It seems like every year it’s kind of this way,” said the Signal Mountain resident.
Continue reading by following these links to related stories:
Article: Warmth ushers in spring