DELMARVA -- A soaking rain has covered Delmarva through Tuesday as an area of low pressure tracks northeast across the region, with widespread totals between one and one and a quarter inches.
Heaviest rain will be ending through the afternoon, drier conditions into the evening.
High temperatures have hovered in the upper forties to lower fifties, and the steady rain is expected to taper late this afternoon before the storm pulls away this evening.
Rainfall totals by late this afternoon range from 1" to 1.25."
Behind the system, high pressure will build in from the southwest, ushering in much drier air tonight. Overnight lows will fall sharply into the upper twenties and lower 30s across the peninsula.
Staying below average through the rest of the week, another cold front pushes through Thursday.
Wednesday will bring partly to mostly clear skies as a weak upper-level ridge shifts overhead. Highs will reach the low forties, followed by a colder Wednesday night as clouds increase from northwest to southeast ahead of the next cold front. Lows are expected to dip into the low to mid-twenties.
A surface low passing well to the north on Thursday will drag a strong cold front through Delmarva by evening. Thursday will be partly to mostly cloudy but dry, with highs in the mid to upper forties. Skies will clear behind the front, but brisk northwest winds will make conditions feel noticeably colder.
The coldest air of the week arrives Thursday night, with temperatures dropping into the low twenties by Friday morning and wind chills falling into the teens. High pressure centered over Delmarva on Friday will keep conditions quiet but very cold, with highs struggling to get out of the thirties.
Forecast guidance continues to monitor a weak disturbance that may track near the region Friday night into Saturday. A coastal low forming near the Carolinas may stay south of Delmarva, though there remains a 30 to 50 percent chance for precipitation Friday night. Any precipitation that develops could be wintry given the cold airmass in place.
Temperatures will remain below average through the weekend. Conditions may moderate slightly Saturday and Sunday, though another cold front could bring a small chance of precipitation and renewed cold Sunday night into Monday.