Saturday and Sunday, summery warmth will sprint boldly through the Midwestas high winds scour the Desert Southwest.In the nation's midsection, 90-degree warmth will invade the central Plains astemperatures break into the 80s in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
However, much more is in store on Sunday, when Chicago and Minneapolis willhave their warmest day of the year thus far. Readings will flirt with the90-degree mark. Highs will break 80 F eastward to at least Detroit andCleveland.
Those spending time outdoors for cookouts, graduation celebrations and otherweather-dependent activities will find this weekend mostly favorable, maybeeven too warm, from the central and southern Plains north and east to the GreatLakes.
Along the Eastern Seaboard, onshore winds and, in the Middle Atlantic, a fewshowers will bring a hiccup in the warmup, yet it will be a good deal warmerthan it was during the first half of the week.
As if hitched to a see-saw spanning the country, warming eastward from theRockies will be offset by a chilly outbreak in the West.
Showers of rain from Washington to northern California will become snow in theCascades to the northern Rockies and northern Sierra Nevada.
Perhaps the greatest weather impact in the West will be neither cold nor snow,but high winds.
Gusts will top 60 mph in windy areas from California's Mojave Desert east tothe Four Corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The southwesterlyblast will whip up dust and sand as the also heighten fire risk.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews
