A cold front getting through overnight Sunday will clear the area by daybreak Monday, ushering in much cooler and drier air and setting up a week of below-normal temperatures. Clouds will be scouring out Monday morning, yielding abundant sunshine, but cold advection will keep temperatures capped to the mid-to-upper 50s in the afternoon.

Tuesday morning will start in the mid-30s — about 10° cooler than Monday morning — and could dip into freezing territory further inland. Highs will run a touch warmer, but only in the upper 50s to around 60° under mostly sunny skies. Temperatures moderate a little more on Wednesday before a reinforcing cold front swings through, sending Thursday’s highs down to the mid-50s with an increase in cloud cover, though dry air will preclude any rain with this front. Highs in the 50s continue to close out the work week.

As we get into the weekend, we warm up some, but the weather may turn unsettled once again as a coastal trough may develop with assistance from a storm system in the Gulf. It seems 2023 wants to go out the way it came in — with a continuous pattern of unsettled weekends. Not cool, 2023.

So, let’s get this out of the way: If you’re going to do stuff outside this weekend, do it Saturday. Temperatures will be unseasonably warm and there will be plenty of sunshine. Expect to start the day in the low 50s — a good ten degrees or more warmer than many of us started this morning — with highs topping out in the mid-70s in the afternoon. Aside from the risk for a stray coastal shower to sneak ashore at times, much of the metro gets Saturday in rain-free.

Sunday should be a different story. The first thing to note is that it probably won’t rain all day — there will be breaks, especially in the morning and early afternoon. However, winds will be cranking up with gusts approaching 30 MPH (and likely higher on bridges and overpasses, especially closer to the coast) ahead of a band of showers and a few thunderstorms that looks to push through during the mid-afternoon and evening hours. These could bring down some even stronger wind gusts especially inland of 17, but widespread severe weather isn’t expected given a lack of available instability. We should see any thunderstorms weaken as they approach the coast and the locally more stable air thanks to shelf waters in the upper 50s. Still, keep an ear out for possible statements or warnings in case a strong thunderstorm approaches your location.

Rain tapers off overnight Sunday as the front gets by, and it looks like high pressure will keep things on the cool side of normal for much of next week.

Another round of chilly weather is expected overnight Thursday into Friday. We’ll wake up to temperatures in the upper 30s Friday morning, but high pressure slipping offshore will allow temperatures to warm up to the mid-60s in the afternoon under a mix of sun and clouds. Overall, Friday looks pretty good.

The warming trend continues into the weekend. Saturday is the pick day of the weekend for outdoor activities, and it really isn’t close as a front gets through Sunday. It starts significantly warmer than Friday did, with lows in the low to mid-50s expected. Highs will top out in the mid-70s under generally partly cloudy skies. This will be the last warm and quiet weather day for at least a few days, so try to take advantage!

The weather changes fairly quickly overnight Saturday into Sunday as a strong storm system’s cold front drives toward the area. Sunday gets off to another unseasonably warm start, with lows in the low 60s expected. Showers may be firing off first thing Sunday, but the main band of rain associated with the front looks to arrive later in the afternoon and evening. Wind will be another factor, with gusts upwards of 30 MPH appearing possible at times, even outside of storms. The risk for severe weather is quite low, owing to the minimal available instability that’s expected despite no shortage of bulk wind shear. Still, some thunder is possible, and if additional instability can kick up, a strong to damaging wind gust or two is not out of the question. More fine-tuning of the forecast will occur, but generally speaking, Sunday just doesn’t look promising to be outside.

Thursday will represent the bottom-most point of this week’s temperatures rollercoaster, with lows bottoming out in the mid-30s across much of the metro with freezing temperatures further inland. Frost is a distinct possibility, and you’ll want to have pets and plants inside overnight Wednesday. Cool high pressure moves across the area during the day Thursday, limiting highs to the upper 50s to around 60° despite predominantly sunny skies.