Wet work week beginnings

Dry conditions over the winter and early spring are typically not good news for soil conditions or vegetation as the drier summer months approach. This was the Drought Monitor for Virginia published last week:

The Abnormally Dry - yellow shading - covers Mecklenburg County, with Moderate Drought conditions shown west and north of the area.

Today's (Monday's) rainfall will alleviate that dryness somewhat. As this blog is written rainfall totals across the county range from 0.44" at Chase City to 0.73" in Clarksville. Overall, local rain gauges will collect up to two inches before precipitation ends tonight. There may be a rumble or two of thunder this afternoon, but nothing severe is expected.

As of this morning a cold front is perched just north of the Virginia / North Carolina state line. Under cloudy skies temperatures will top out at the 70º mark today, just about average for early April. Southwesterly winds will gust up to 20 mph until midafternoon, when that front will finally sag south of the state line. Winds will then swap around out of the north.

After midnight tonight a secondary cold front will push through and end the precipitation. This next boundary will allow much cooler Canadian air into the area, dropping temperatures into the low 40s by dawn Tuesday. Tomorrow will then be sunny and cool, with highs only in the mid-50s along with a northerly breeze. 

Overnight Tuesday winds will go calm, and under clear skies temperatures will plummet into the low 30s. Scattered frost is a distinct possibility early Wednesday morning!