WEATHER: After warm start to April, slight cooldown to open first full week of month

Spring was in the air around Northwest Georgia over the past week after warm weather dominated the forecast, but then some rain moved in over the holiday weekend and Easter started off wet, but ultimately the sun came back out to start the week off around the region.

However, that rain brought with it a cold front across the region and brought the thermometer down to cooler than average levels. Fortunately, the spring warmth will be returning shortly.

So students who are on spring break around the area better beware: you’ll need layers for spending time outdoors through much of time off school.

Highs on Monday will reach the 60s across Northwest Georgia as sunshine dominates, but will be dropping back down into the 40s overnight and into the early morning hours on Tuesday.

The thermometer will start climbing on Tuesday into the upper 60s and low 70s around the region, but again drop back down into the 40s overnight. Expect some higher winds on Tuesday – so conditions will be ripe for brush fires for those trying to clear debris from their yards during the middle part of the week – and expect a temporary burn ban on Wednesday as gusts are up to 25 mph in some parts of the area.

Highs on Wednesday will get into the lower 70s for some portions of the region, but look for temps up into the 60s closer further north for the day. Lows will remain in the 40s heading into the latter half of the week.

Expect sunshine to warm things up toward the mid 70s on Thursday and the upper 70s on Friday, with lows down into the 50s for some parts of the region before the highs over the upcoming weekend get back into the mid 80s and lows remain in the 50s for the time being.

Looking further ahead, NWS Peachtree City expects that above average temperatures are still in store for much of the state. Since chances for rain will remain low throughout the middle of the month, the drought and abnormally dry conditions are likely to increase through April. Temps are predicted to remain in the mid 80s starting this coming weekend and remain there through at least the latter half of the month based on current forecast models.