12/15 – The Chief’s “Rain For The Weekend” Friday Morning Forecast

There has been somewhat of a delay in surface winds responding to the system moving southward over the front range of the Rockies, but they will respond slowly today and Saturday. There will be lulls in these speeds though as the first low-pressure will begin to combine with the front behind it Saturday causing the pressure field to flatten for at least a few to several hours Saturday

A surface low-pressure system in the GOM will continue to bring cloud coverage to the area with rain moving in Saturday morning. The majority of the moisture with this system will be to the east and north of the gulf low. But the showers/t-storms will be transitory and should not cause any issues with heavy rainfall remaining over the area for extended periods. We will keep headlines as is for now but this is going to be a messy system as far as forecasting when each variable will take place, lull then come back up again.

Today, areas mainly along the coast will see wind speeds into the 20-25 mph range with a few 30 mph gusts thrown in for good measure. Tonight and Saturday should be the day of winds easing as the surface low moves east and the cold front moves toward the area. This is the gradient collapsing between the two. Once the front passes, we should see NW winds and an abrupt rise in speeds as the gradient becomes better established with strong a strong high moving in Sunday.

Saturday night into early Sunday, we will see a frontal passage and NW winds up to around 15 mph with gusts into the 20s. Winds will slowly ease through Sun night and by Monday; we should see winds back to lowest values. After this system is out, we only get reinforcing surges of dry air moving through. The first of these is late Monday. This will hang around until the next system starts to impact the area by the end of next week.