The main character in the weather story for the rest of the work week will be a potent storm system barreling across the eastern half of the country, bringing with it some showers, maybe some thunderstorms, and almost certainly some cooler air for Friday heading into the weekend.

Wednesday will feature another chilly start, with lows bottoming out around the upper 30s to low 40s across the metro area. The wedge of high pressure that settled into place on Tuesday will erode on Wednesday as the parent high heads offshore, bringing some warmer air back into the mix by afternoon. A few showers can’t be ruled out late in the afternoon, with the better risk of rain arriving overnight into Thursday.

Showers will be a certainty and a few thunderstorms a possibility on Thursday. A thunderstorm or two could be on the strong side, too, with damaging wind gusts the main concern (though a rotating storm or two is not off the table, either). As is common in the cool season, wind shear will be healthy, but instability remains the big question. A lot will hinge on what kind of activity we see in the morning; the more showers, the better. Expect the bulk of the rain to fall before sunset, with storms quickly heading offshore in the evening with the cold front to follow.

Friday will be noticeably cooler and drier. Mostly sunny skies will be in place, but cold air moving in will keep temperatures around 60° in the afternoon, with otherwise nothing else to write home about. A reinforcing shot of cold air will swing through Saturday evening, making for a pretty chilly start to next week…with an even bigger shot of Arctic air waiting in the wings for Christmastime. (Stay tuned for details on how that evolves.)

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