Spring has officially begun, although it feels nothing like it.  High pressure will remain in control through the early afternoon, making for a sunny, albeit unseasonably cool, day.  Most locations will get into the lower 40’s but the higher elevations won’t get out of the 30’s.

A quick moving system passes through this evening and we’ll begin to see increased cloud cover late this afternoon.  Ridiculously cold temperatures for this time of year occur tonight and snow showers will accompany them.  Only a couple of inches is expected and that’s for the usual favored locations near the NC/TN border.  Everyone else is looking at a dusting or so.

That front quickly moves though the region overnight and high pressure returns once again tomorrow.  We’ll see a return of sunshine but it is going to be CHILLY.  Most of the region won’t get above freezing and a gusty northwest wind will make it feel even colder.  Did I mention it’s spring?

A stationary front sets up over northern Florida on Friday.  The final day of the work week will see continued unseasonably cool temperatures, but it will be noticeably warmer than Thursday.  Partly cloudy skies will prevail as well.

Things get interesting this weekend.  Low pressure moves from Texas to the mid-Atlantic states, bringing precip in the form of a wintry mix into the forecast beginning Saturday afternoon.  A mix of snow/sleet/ice/rain continues through Sunday afternoon.  Model soundings indicate a changeover to all snow occuring late Sunday evening.  It looks like northwest flow snow showers will continue Monday and possibly even into Tuesday.

The confidence in the forecast for the weekend and into next week is low at this point but will be come clearer over the next day or two.  It will definitely be cold though and in general, the next couple of weeks look to see continued unseasonably cold temperatures thanks to a near historic Greenland blocking event.