Storm: Tuesday evening cold front may bring showers across the Tri-States

A storm chance returns to the Tri-States Tuesday evening, when a cold front may bring a couple of showers or thunderstorms around dinnertime across the eastern counties. Tuesday starts dry and mild, but clouds build later in the day as southwest winds turn blustery at 15 to 25 mph.

Tuesday afternoon in the Tri-States

Temperatures will climb into the low 80s before the front arrives. The strongest window for showers or thunderstorms is late Tuesday, around dinnertime, and the front should move through after a day that began with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid-50s.

That sequence leaves little time for storms, but it does put the evening commute and outdoor plans in the same narrow window. Anyone counting on a dry late-day stretch has the best odds earlier in the afternoon, before clouds thicken and the breeze strengthens.

Wednesday after the front

Tuesday night brings decreasing clouds and winds shifting to the northwest, with overnight lows falling back to around 50°. Wednesday then turns drier and cooler, with plentiful sunshine and seasonable highs in the low 70s.

High pressure is already behind the change. It arrived Monday, and it helps keep Wednesday settled before conditions start to turn again later in the week.

Late-week thunderstorms

Thursday starts fair, with high pressure holding through the first half of the day. Clouds increase later, highs run close to 75°, and a few scattered thunderstorms are possible Thursday night.

Most of those storms should leave the Tri-States by Friday morning. Friday highs reach 84° with heat indices in the mid and upper 80s, and more scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible Friday night. Saturday stays in play for scattered thunderstorms, Sunday shifts to a morning thunderstorm chance, and early next week low pressure moving northeast across the Great Plains sends rounds of showers and thunderstorms on Monday.