AND RIGHT BACK TO THE GLOOM...

We finally had sunshine on Saturday in much of the Midwest and that did a number on the temperatures. In my area temperatures were above normal for the first time in a whole week! Unfortunately the clouds have begun to move back in and the gloomy pattern resumes. Here are the highs expected Sunday afternoon:

The main low (responsible for the clouds) will be down in Texas on Sunday. That storm will send a wave of energy to the north and lead to a few scattered showers:

Down in Texas it will be a different story with the set up for a very active day. Here's the latest risk from the Storm Prediction Center:

The red area is a moderate (four out of five on the scale) is where there's the potential for storms with strong winds and tornadoes Sunday afternoon. That storm will eventually eject north and move into the Midwest during the start of the work week:

A combination of clouds, rain and the storm track will lead to dreary and cool conditions. This seems to be a pattern we're stuck in because another storm comes in midweek and has a pretty similar track:

The one difference with this storm is some cold air actually gets dragged down into the Midwest. This is 5-6 days out so there are some differences between the models. Here's the upper air charts for Thursday on the GFS:

And the European:

The Euro doesn't have a strong closed low like the GFS and therefore isn't AS cold. But both models do have snow in parts of the Midwest. Here's the GFS and the European snowfall through Friday:

It's not going to be much and of course, being April, the snow won't stick around long. Regardless, some cooler air will be moving in and the departures look like this:

A good swath of 8 to 14 degrees below normal Thursday and Thursday night. The numbers and the placement of the snow will change but it will be another interesting (albeit cloudy) week in the Midwest.

RK