BASKING IN THE SUN, MILDER

With about 10 days left to the month of March, the odds are looking good that by the time we wrap it up, temperatures will have averaged at least 5 degrees above normal and precipitation at least a bit below average. The next few days will feature mainly dry conditions locally with some pleasant afternoon temps. As for today there will be plenty of sunshine with highs reaching the upper 40s to around 50.

Mainly clear and not quite as chilly for tonight with lows dipping back into the lower 20s in outlying areas to the mid to upper 20s in the remainder of the region. Sunny to partly cloudy and pleasant to get the work week going on Monday with highs in the mid 50s. A weak cold front is forecast to slide by the Wisconsin River Valley, with lots of clouds but little in the way of shower possibilities. Afternoon readings will dip back closer to 50. The next opportunity for rain or snow showers may come our way on Thursday with another quick moving cold front. Highs look to be on a downward trend, topping out in the mid 40s Thursday, then struggle to get much above 40 on Friday. Then just to keep things interesting a storm system working out of the northern Rockies may work southeast into Illinois and the western Ohio River Valley for the upcoming weekend. At this point, it does not appear we will be getting the bulk of the moisture, which would likely fall in the form of snow. So for now, there is a possibility for snow showers next weekend with highs in the mid 30s to around 40.

For the latest county by county radar information for our area, have a look at My Local Titan, available on our webchannel, WSAW.com...this is an exclusive feature of NewsChannel 7!

Also--- NewsChannel 7 now has school closing text alerts... FREE for the entire area... log on to www.wsaw.com and get signed up under the 7 to Go section!

Have a splendid Sunday!

Meteorologist Jeremy Tabin

UPDATED WEATHER RECORDS AND PRECIPITATION FOR THE AREA

-Check the "Wausau Weather Records" link on our webchannel
wsaw.com/weather for updated monthly and annual precipitation and
temperatures for Wausau, with references for locating similar information for other cities in our area. As you will see, Wausau (and most of the rest of central and northern Wisconsin) has been experiencing below average precipitation for quite a while.

The National Weather Service monitors drought conditions across the U.S. You can access this information from the following web sites:

U.S. Drought Monitor
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html
or
http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/index.html

NOAA also has a drought monitoring page at...
http://www.drought.noaa.gov

Information on rivers through the U.S. Geological Survey can be found at...
http://water.usgs.gov
or through the Army Corps of Engineers at...
http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil