Oddly enough, 12:11 p.m. Saturday marks the winter solstice, the astronomical start of winter. Obviously, this year it will not feel the least bit like winter!
A major storm system moving through the center of the United States is pushing very warm air up ahead of it, right into our area. Temperatures this weekend will be 20° to 30° above normal. For this period of December, the normal high is 49° and the normal low is 29°.
In Richmond, Saturday’s record high is 73° from 1956. Occasional cloud cover will keep a lid on temperatures from getting too toasty, but many local records will be tied or broken as highs hit the low and mid 70s.
By Sunday morning, lows will only be near 60°. Records are kept for the warmest low temperatures, and the record “warm” low for Sunday is 55° from 1923. That will get broken!
Sunday afternoon, area highs will be in the 75° to 80° range. The Richmond record is 74° from 1923, and that record will likely be broken by a few degrees.
This will all change, however, heading into the coming week. The storm to our west will bring some showers and storms late Sunday into Sunday night. A cold front will move through, and this will mark some colder air returning. An area of low pressure will ride along the front just to our east, and some periods of steady to heavy rainfall are possible late Sunday night through much of Monday. Some areas, especially east of I-95, could see in excess of one inch of rainfall.
Behind this system, we will dry out Tuesday and return to seasonable levels. We should see fairly tranquil weather the rest of the week through next weekend.
