Jennifer Edwards Baker reports:
It’s suddenly springtime in January.
A warm but wet weather system will hover over Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky the next several days, bringing spring-like conditions.
The burst of southern air will push the mercury 15 to 20 degrees above normal for the rest of this week, the first full one of January, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
While our typical daytime high temperature is 38 degrees, the high will soar to 66 on Saturday.
The last time we saw temperatures this warm at this point in the winter season was 67 degrees on Jan. 8, 2008, said meteorologist Allen Randall.
As the warm air blows in, it will bring rain that could be heavy at times, especially on Friday. Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches could fall between now and Monday night.
“We are going to have a very moist, southwesterly flow for a long period,” Randall said. “We will have a prolonged period of unsettled weather.”
Today should bring rain sprinkles before 11 a.m. Later, it will be partly sunny with the high reaching 52 degrees.
Tonight’s low will still be cold as overnight temperatures plunge to about 30 degrees.
More rain and possibly thunderstorms will arrive Thursday night and stick around Friday and Saturday. The heaviest rain will come Friday.
The mercury will continue to climb into the mid-50s Thursday and break the 60-degree mark on Friday.
Saturday could bring a high temperature pushing 67 degrees, just four degrees below the record on that date of 71, set back in 1890, according to the weather service.
The overnight low will fall back into the upper 40s.
By Sunday, the mercury will begin to decline back down to more normal temperatures for winter. The high will be 53 with a 60 percent chance of rain.
By Tuesday of next week, the daytime high will only reach 40 degrees with overnight lows returning to the 20s.
