Warm Spell Coming Before Mardi Gras Cooldown.

I went fishing yesterday despite cold water temperatures and way too strong winds.   The results?  6 bass, 3 fat catfish & one big sheepshead caught by Capt. Johnny Lewis.  I caught none of the above as I was limited to 2 undersized trout.  Actually here's the best of what I caught.

The best thing I caught were the clouds making for a beautiful sunset. But on to the important stuff for this weekend...parade weather.

As you can see, we will be very Spring-like through late Sunday.  A frontal boundary will set up to our north & west for Friday through Sunday with the greatest threat for heavy rains over norther Louisiana.

So why will the cold front stall out for most of this weekend?  Let's go to the upper air pattern.

The upper trough remains over the Rockies with a SW flow over us.  It's very much winter on the western side of the trough with 50s & 60s surging into Minnesota & Wisconsin.  Chicago neared 60 with St. Louis reaching 70!  Way too warm for February.  I'm thinking the only day with real weather issues for parades is late Sunday PM into Sunday evening.  

SPC does have a slight (Level 2) risK for severe storms late Sunday.  Far too early to get nervous, but that's why FOX 8 has a First Alert up for Sunday PM  Once the cold front passes, things get better.

 Monday & Tuesday look dry, but significantly cooler.   If the sun is out, it's shaping up to be a great Mardi Gras.  Stay tuned!