Scattered showers with a few heavier downpours will cross the metro area between now and 6 pm. Gusty winds and mild temperatures will continue this evening. Later tonight, the bulk of the rain and potential for highest winds will develop as a line of heavy rain crosses the mountains and passes through the metro area. This is all along the leading edge of colder air mass that will overspread the area for the next few days. Even though it will turn more seasonable, this cold spell will be not nearly as cold as it was last week.

Now some details on tonight’s weather. There has been very little thunder and lightning(convection) with the areas of heavy to severe storms west of the Appalachians. We do not expect much if any convection here. But we do expect to see extremely heavy rain and very strong winds in places. The timing suggests the most intense part of this line will move through the metro area after 9 or 10 pm. Localized flooding is possible in areas that get the heavier downpours. And winds could gust close to 50 mph…especially in higher elevations.