There's an almost dizzying array of weather activity for the first half of the week that will give us a warm and somewhat wet start to February. To begin with, there is a cold front just west of the city this morning. Before the front arrives the temperature will rise to the mid 50s, pretty much wiping out all but the largest piles of snow remaining from last week's storm. There is a slight chance of showers this afternoon, and the temperature will quickly drop to the mid 40s soon after sunset this evening.
Not that this matters to his woodchuck whisperers, but Staten Island Chuck should see his shadow tomorrow morning as the skies clear out behind the cold front. Tuesday's high should reach the upper 40s, which is about ten degrees warmer than normal for Groundhog Day.
A big warm-up is expected on Wednesday as a powerful, spring-like storm moves up through the Ohio Valley and into the Great Lakes. We are likely to see a high in the upper 50s or even 60 degrees Wednesday afternoon. There will almost certainly be rain showers, possibly even a thunderstorm, during the day on Wednesday. Once the storm passes temperatures will drop down to slightly warmer than normal with daytime highs in the lower 40s through the weekend.
