Wild weather: Potential record highs Wednesday give way to 'impactful winter storm' Friday

Jack Perry, The Providence Journal
·2 min read

Editor's note: For the latest on the winter storm in Rhode Island, please see our live winter weather update.

Get ready for another wild swing in the weather -- a spring-like start Wednesday with the chance of record temperatures followed by a winter storm Friday.

The temperature should climb well into the 60s Wednesday before plummeting into the 20s overnight. After a cloudy day Thursday with a high near 36 in Providence, a storm will move in overnight, probably bring snow for the Friday morning commute.

"There is high confidence in an impactful winter storm on Friday, and that it will start off as a rather impressive front-end thump of snow during the pre-dawn hours of Friday," the National Weather Service says in its forecast discussion. "So the Friday morning commute will likely be impacted."

The Providence area should get snow, rain or a wintry mix for much of Friday before it winds down at about 7 Friday night, according to the Weather Service. The high in Providence Friday should reach 37 with an east wind gusting up to 21 mph. Overnight, the temperature will drop to about 17.

High temperature could break some records Wednesday, but the spring-like warmth won't last long, according to the National Weather Service.
High temperature could break some records Wednesday, but the spring-like warmth won't last long, according to the National Weather Service.

The region will see an active weather pattern well before the storm arrives.

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The temperature will warm quickly Wednesday morning. The day will start cloudy before turning mostly sunny, and the high temperature in Providence should reach 67 degrees, according to the Weather Service. If it gets that high, it will eclipse the record for the date of 66 degrees, which was set in 2017.

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The warmth won't last. "These near record high temperatures will be short-lived, as a strong cold front will bring much colder temps arriving by mid afternoon into the early evening hours from northwest to southeast," the Weather Service says. "This will likely be accompanied by a few hours of northwest wind gusts of 35-50 mph."

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jperry@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7614

On Twitter: @jgregoryperry

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI weather: Friday snow expected to follow warm Wednesday temperatures