We closed out the weekend on a cool and showery note. It’s been the running theme since Friday of last week with highs only in the 50s each day. The cool pattern will end briefly on Monday with a combination of sunny skies and southwest winds boosting afternoon temperatures to near 70° after a cold morning in the 30s.

Heading into Monday night we’ll find a cold front dropping south into the Ozarks. An unusually stout blast of cold will follow the front. Snow and the possibility of record cold are both on the table. The cold air will move in Monday night into Tuesday morning with a band of precipitation breaking out in the cold air behind the front. The leading edge of the precipitation will likely be a wintry mix of rain, snow, and sleet followed by a quick changeover to mainly snow.

Light accumulations are possible Tuesday morning into Tuesday afternoon, but it will come with some challenges. The snow coming through during the day will work against accumulations and so will temperatures remaining a little above freezing. It looks like it may come down pretty good for a period of time though and this may be enough to outweigh the negatives. If that happens a wet inch or so of snow is possible with the best chance for higher amounts north of the interstate. Amounts will taper off to nothing south of the state line. Little to no impact on roads is expected.

Temperatures Tuesday will likely bottom out a little above freezing once the precipitation sets in with some recovery possible once the snow ends later in the day. The cold blast will result in the potential for broken records. The daily snow record for Springfield is a trace set back in 1918. Record low highs are also possible Tuesday.

Morning lows Wednesday will be in the mid to 20s to around 30° across the area with highs on Wednesday only in the low 50s.

Another freezing cold morning will follow on Thursday with the coldest readings near and east of Hwy. 63 where temperatures will once again dip well into the 20s. Temperatures will be a bit warmer to the west where lows will be in the upper 20s to low 30s.

Record lows are possible both Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Temperatures will begin to climb Thursday with southerly winds and mostly sunny skies pushing afternoon temperatures to near 60°.

We’ll wrap up the week with scattered showers and a few thunderstorms Friday into Saturday morning. Temperatures will remain cool for late April through Saturday, but sunshine and warm weather returns Sunday afternoon. It looks like we’re in for warmer weather over the last week of the month of April.