Monday, June 5th

By Meteorologist Rich Cain

Hazy sunshine & dry conditions marked the beginning of our first week of June. Canadian wildfire smoke aloft has been dragged in with a wind shift from the northeast and it looks to stick around for a few days. Overall, dry weather will continue overnight with a mostly clear sky & haze. Lows will be around 60 with a light wind.

The overall weather pattern remains the same with a strong upper-level low parked over northern New England with another upper-level low over southern California. This keeps the Plains & Midwest in a ridge over the next several days, known as an Omega Block. More hazy sunshine is in store for the region Tuesday with highs in the upper 80s and lows in the upper 60s. A potent wave will round the upper level low on Wednesday which will bring a back door cold front into the area. Widespread showers and thunderstorms are anticipated through the day as the front pushes southwest. Our next chance for rain moves in late Tuesday night, more so Wednesday with highs in the lower 80s and lows near 60. There's pretty high confidence in precipitation and thunder chances due to better instability and moisture ahead of the front. Severe weather chances are low due to lack of shear. The front looks to stall out over the Central Plains by Thursday keeping our region under a northeast flow with dry & cooler conditions. Highs will be in the lower 80s with lows in the upper 50s. Looking ahead toward the weekend, precipitation chances seem to be on the increase as the Omega Block upper-level pattern begins to weaken with a few waves moving through the flow. While the timing is still uncertain, confidence is increasing in precipitation across the area with cooler temperatures.