Thanksgiving week in Albany area to be cool, maybe wet

ALBANY — There’s a chance it could be a wet Thanksgiving Day, but temperatures should stay below normal for the holiday week, National Weather Service forecasters say.

The work week is expected to open with patchy frost from a chilly overnight with a low of around 35 tonight. Monday will have clear skies, a high of 63 and winds of 5-10 mph. The Monday night low should be up 13 degrees from tonight at 48 as skies get cloudy in the evening and chances of rain start to develop.

NWS meteorologist Tim Barry, in his forecast, says deep layer moisture will spread over Southwest Georgia and north Florida Tuesday as a shortwave trough moves southward, resulting in a weak surface low developing over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to lift northeastward toward the western Florida coast Tuesday night.

“This will spread rain back over our area with the best chance (40-50 percent) across our Florida zones,” Barry said. “The air mass will begin to modify with highs Monday mostly in the mid to upper 60s and upper 60s to mid 70s on Tuesday. Lows Monday night will be in the upper 40s to lower 50s.”

The forecast calls for the surface low to move inland across north-central Florida Tuesday night and, with the upper trough further amplifying, for a secondary surface low to form over the eastern Gulf. Two forecast models show some differences at that point on how the low pressure systems will act and how much rain is likely to be produced.

“As the surface and upper low move east, look for drier conditions to return for the weekend,” Barry said. “In either scenario, temperatures (especially high temperatures) will likely be below normal with highs generally in the lower to mid 60s.”

The normal high for Albany for Thanksgiving Day is 70 with a normal low of 45. The highs, lows and chances of rain this week according to the NWS forecast today are:

— Monday: 63, 48, none;

— Tuesday: 68, 47, 20 percent;

— Wednesday: 65, 47, 20 percent rising to 30 percent at night;

— Thanksgiving: 62, 42, 20 percent;

— Friday: 64, 41, none.