Luck of the Irish: St. Patrick’s Day not likely to be too soggy

Expecting a soggy St. Patrick’s Day in San Antonio? As luck would have it, the series of strong to severe storms that have whipped through South Texas since Friday should start to settle down by Sunday night.

The storms, which have produced large hail, damaging winds and locally heavy rainfall across the southern third of the state this weekend, could erupt one more time Sunday morning in South Texas. But by 6 p.m., with the exit of a weak cold front from the state, the rain threat for San Antonio subsides, according to the National Weather Service.

Sunday’s temperatures start off in the low to mid 60s with the highest rain chances of day, around 60% to 70%, and a dose of patchy fog, forecasters said. After the fog dissipates mid-morning, temperatures should creep up, but only as high as 70 degrees in the afternoon. Any storms developing Sunday could produce between a quarter-inch to a halfinch of rain, along with gusty winds of 10 mph to 15 mph.

At night, look for mostly cloudy skies over San Antonio, and prepare for temperatures behind the cold front to slip to as low as 53 degrees by Monday morning, the weather service said.

What does the week look like?

A mid-level system of high atmospheric pressure will build in South and Central Texas along with drier air, according to forecasters.

“Any lingering precipitation will diminish, except right along the Rio Grande overnight (Sunday) and through the day on Monday,” weather service meteorologist Keith White wrote in a forecast bulletin Saturday. “Even there, chances are only in the 15% to 40% range mostly.”

Monday’s forecast for San Antonio calls for partly sunny skies, but cooler temperatures prevail along with blustery northeast winds of 15 mph to 20 mph that include gusts as strong as 35 mph.

Morning temperatures around dawn will start in the mid-50s but they won’t make it any higher than 67 degrees that afternoon. At night, skies turn mostly cloudy amid persistent gusty northeast winds, but temperatures sink to as low as the upper 40s by daybreak Tuesday, the weather service said.

San Antonio on Tuesday is shaping up to be mostly cloudy as winds in the afternoon become southeast and draw more atmospheric moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Temperatures climb only to around 62 degrees but, thanks partly to the return of warmer tropical air, overnight temperatures stay above 50.

“Continued seasonally cool temperatures will top out again in the 60s with some upper 50s likely in portions of the Hill Country,” the weather service’s White wrote.

Low rain chances return

Another rain-friendly system of low atmospheric pressure is expected to cross the region Wednesday night and Thursday, bringing our next chances for widespread showers and storms, according to White.

San Antonio on Wednesday has a 20% chance of showers that could ramp up to 40% at night. East-southeast winds of 5 mph to 10 mph will help push temperatures as high as 67 degrees. Overnight, temperatures will stay above 57 degrees.

Thursday has a 30% chance of showers under otherwise mostly sunny skies. This time, afternoon temperatures could soar to 80 degrees.

“While severe weather currently appears unlikely for this round, that could change over the coming days,” White wrote.