Spring Perfection Followed By Looming Storm Threat

Yesterday's weather across the Tennessee Valley was spectacular. The skies around here are only this blue in the Spring and Fall, and they were perfectly cloudless yesterday. I took this picture of the brilliant yellows of the Forsythia against the cobalt blue sky. I think I'll look back on this shot when the hazy dog days of summer set in, or when the cold and grey of winter feels like it will never end. When they are in bloom, I think about one I knew years ago.
We used to have a sprawling forsythia in the back yard where I grew up. It actually made a natural arch in the corner of the yard. Coming and going from the house by way of the alley was often the preferred choice. Most of the good junk could be found along this route, along with vistas that weren't available from the street out front.
This particular bush was about 8 or 9 feet tall and made a formidable obstacle to whiffle-balls hit out to right field during the constant games played in our yard. We would spend virtually the entire summer fishing fly balls out of the forsythia and hoping my mom wouldn't get too mad when we trampled her peonies another year. (They were right in the middle of center field though. And when you're fading back to catch a long fly to deep center, the landscaping is the last thing on your mind. Besides, they grew back after getting stomped on making that incredible catch last year didn't they?) And at day's end when the games had to be called for darkness, the forsythia was the first place the lightning bugs would light up. Late night batting practice consisted of whacking lightning bugs until your whiffle ball bat was covered in glow-in-the dark spots. (Tell me we weren't the only kids who did this.)
On to the weather at hand.
Things look very nice again today although the clear blue will be streaked with a few cirrus clouds this afternoon. And after a rather chilly morning, highs will pop back into the low 70s this afternoon. Partly cloudy Thursday afternoon with a slight chance for a shower or storm as a warm front sweeps through. Highs into the low and mid 70s tomorrow afternoon. The storm system innudating California will move out into the plains and towards us by Friday night. And unfortunately that spells another severe weather outbreak for the Plains, Midwest, and maybe here. The surface low looks like it will be dropping from near Kansas City to near Nashville from Thursday through late Friday night. So we will have to watch this system and the models closely the next couple of days. The rainfall potential from Friday night into early Saturday could be between 1.5" to 2". Then breezy and cooler Sunday with highs in the upper 60s.
Longer range? A sizeable warm up may be heading our way April 12th through the 17th or 18th, which could be followed by a drop in temps. But batman is back in the garage for another year so I doubt we'll have any sustained cold. He hasn't been fooled in the Spring or Winter yet.