Weather Outlook for October 2, 2012

Mild, damp conditions will begin the day on Wednesday and slowly yield to rather warm and humid weather in the afternoon with scattered showers or even a thunderstorm possible in the northeastern third of the state. Light winds and clearing skies will provide ideal conditions for dense fog to form for Thursday morning. Some sections in the central mountain-valley region may have fog that lingers until midday. Much of Thursday will be rain-free and rather mild, though a shower is still possible in the easternmost counties.

On Friday, a cold front will arrive from northwest (mid-afternoon) to southeast (late night), but much of the weather will be behind the front on Saturday. Skies will turn cloudy and winds will shift into the northerly quadrant allowing chillier air to seep into the region. The period from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning portends a spell of cold rain in more than half the state. There is a chance that the first wet flakes will fall in the higher elevations of the Laurel Highlands and northern mountains around daybreak on Sunday. Very chilly weather is likely on Sunday, though some sunshine will return.

Below normal temperatures should stay through the middle of next week with a few occasions for passing showers each afternoon. A rebound to above seasonal readings is likely for a few days to a week during the middle of the month, but another period of unseasonal chill is quite likely later in October.