A WEDNESDAY WASHOUT

We continue to watch as cold front on approach that will bring cooler temperatures and widespread rain showers Wednesday. The slowly-moving front has a lot of similarities to those classic autumn cold fronts. The calendar is still early August so we still have a long way to go before we are locked in the cooler temperatures.

7AM Wednesday

6PM Wednesday

Forecast trends are slowly increasing the rainfall potential, with widespread 2-3" of precipitation likely across the area Wednesday. Showers and a few embedded thunderstorms likely persist through the day Wednesday. While likely not raining all day, there will be potential for rain at pretty much any given time. There appears to be two waves - one in the morning hours and another in the late afternoon and early evening.

While not record-breaking levels of moisture in the atmosphere, the precipitable water values will certainly be on the higher side. PWATs around 1.75" at the onset of the rainfall are in the 90th percentile for this time of year. This means any showers and storms that develop will be very efficient rainfall producers.

Severe weather potential remains low with this setup with limited instability and upper air support.

Highs across the Midwest are forecast to be held only into the mid/upper 70s for much of the area on Wednesday. The cooler temperatures will not stick around too long, with above-normal temperatures back for the weekend.

Have a great week, everyone!

-Meteorologist Nick Stewart