DELMARVA -- A cold front pushed through the area early this morning, will deal with a breezy and much drier air mass today. Afternoon highs will only reach the mid 50s, while northwest winds increase to 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 to 35 mph.
That dry northwest flow will also drive dew points down into the teens by afternoon, creating very low humidity levels in the 20 to 30 percent range. As a result, an elevated risk for fire spread is expected across the peninsula today. Even though the weather setup is supportive of dangerous fire behavior, rainfall from Sunday likely kept fuels moist enough to prevent a Red Flag Warning for now. Most of the region picked up around a quarter to a half inch of rain, with some spots seeing as much as an inch, especially across southern Delaware.
Conditions will improve some on Wednesday as winds ease back to around 5 to 10 mph, which should lower the fire spread threat. However, the air mass will remain very dry, with humidity still dropping into the 20 to 30 percent range away from the immediate coast.
The next big weather story will be the cold. A strong area of Canadian high pressure will build in, sending another shot of chilly, dry air into Delmarva tonight through Wednesday night. Low temperatures by Wednesday morning will fall into the low to mid 20s to low 30s for most areas.
Freeze Warnings are in effect for the peninsula, except right along the immediate coast. Protect any plants and vegetation over the next two nights.Â
Another cold night is expected Wednesday night into early Thursday. With lighter winds and good radiational cooling, frost and freeze conditions are likely to become widespread again. Inland areas have the best chance of dropping below freezing, while coastal communities may stay just warm enough to avoid a hard freeze, though frost could still develop if winds go calm early enough.
After the midweek chill, temperatures begin to recover. Highs will climb back into the upper 50s to near 60 on Thursday, with 70s returning Friday and Saturday. An even bigger warm-up is expected early next week, when 80s could return to Delmarva.