The cold air mass that has been sitting over the Northeast over the pastcouple of days will finally leave Thursday. The combination of sunshine andlight winds will allow afternoon temperatures to rise to more seasonablelevels.Unfortunately, the improvement is not going to last. A storm tracking towardthe Appalachians on Friday will spread clouds and rain back into the region.

Temperatures will likely drop back into the 40s during the day as the rainbegins.

Story by AccuWeather.com senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.