QUICK WEATHER FORECAST:

• Today: Clearing clouds, milder, high 58
• Tonight: Mostly clear, low 38
• Monday: Mostly sunny, high 68
• Tuesday: Clouds then PM rain, high 61
• Wednesday: Rain showers, high 68
• Thursday: Few showers, mostly cloudy high 55

FORECAST DISCUSSION:

Happy first day of spring!

Spring, or the Vernal Equinox, officially begins this morning at 11:33 AM EDT, which is when the sun will be directly over the equator, and both hemispheres will get relatively equal periods of daylight and darkness. From here until the Autumnal Equinox, the Northern Hemisphere will tilt toward the sun. And while it marks the first day of spring for us in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the first day of fall for those in the Southern Hemisphere.

Now let's talk temperatures for the first day of spring. We'll be a few degrees above normal today, normal is 53°, and we'll be up into the upper 50s for daytime highs. We'll see a light sprinkle during the morning, but that wraps up by late morning, and clouds start to break up as we head toward afternoon. We'll see plenty of sunshine by the afternoon with calmer wind speeds.

As we kick off the workweek on Monday, we'll still be seeing plenty of sunshine, and daytime highs will soar back up into the upper 60s. Conditions will be dry, and then cloud cover starts to build in by the overnight hours heading into Tuesday.

Tuesday starts off with mostly cloudy skies, and daytime highs will be in the low 60s. But by Tuesday afternoon, spring showers arrive as the next storm system coming out of the Rockies brings periods of rain beginning Tuesday afternoon and lingering into Thursday, as low pressure moves across the southern half of the country. Temperatures will cool down later in the week.

-McKenna