Warm & dry weather on tap for Thursday

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Warm and dry weather continues through the short term. Zonal flow aloft accompanied by high pressure keeps abundant sunshine in place again today.  Surface high pressure will quickly slip eastward from the Ohio Valley towards the Atlantic coastline by Thursday evening, resulting only in a wind shift from the west to east for the area by midday. After morning lows in the 40s to near 50, highs will again run 4 to 8 degrees above normal by this afternoon, ranging from the low 70s in far North Georgia to near 80 in Middle Georgia. The long term forecast can be easily be broken down into two parts, with a damp weekend and a quick cold blast early next week. Two bouts of rain will move through associated with a quick moving shortwave followed by a larger scale trough moving over the Eastern U.S. The initial shortwave will drive temperatures and moisture up, with highs on Saturday in the 70s (maybe near 80 in southern Middle Georgia). Precipitation chances peak Friday evening into Saturday morning as a line moves out of Tennessee and Kentucky. Instability may be limited. The sooner the line moves through the higher the chances for a few strong storms. At this time, the main forcing looks to come through after sunset with instability falling quickly. Expect widespread showers with a few isolated thunderstorms. A few potentially strong storms with some built in rotation— spicy showers could occur. The next front moves in quickly behind the shortwave Saturday evening/night. Limited moisture and dropping temps will limit precipitation and thunderstorm potential with this. The main  feature with this particular front will be the Artic cold which will follow Monday and Tuesday. Lows both days will be near or below freezing for the majority of coverage area. Tuesday morning may be frigid with lows within 5 degrees of records. Many areas may experience their first freeze of the season with temps dropping into the mid to low 20s.  Prepare pipes, plants, and animals for an abrupt temperature change.