It's hard to believe it, but Memorial Day Weekend is fast approaching. While our seven day forecast doesn't take us that far just yet, we felt that now's as good a time as any to take a sneak peek ahead at the holiday weekend.

There are some conflicting opinions about how the forecast is to materialize as the Holiday weekend nears, so let's take some time to discuss them.

There are two principal computer forecast models that we use to detect long term trends. One is the National Weather Service's GFS model, the other originating in Europe, called the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Model. The GFS model indicates that the we are nowhere near shaking this below normal weather pattern. The suggestion from that model would lead us to believe that temperatures would only be in the upper 50s to low 60s for the Memorial Day weekend, with periods of showers off and on.

On the other hand, the ECMWF model couldn't be more different! It suggests that a big trough will dig into the Southwestern part of the country, building a huge dome of warm air over the nation's midsection. Should current projections from this model hold true, temperatures could reach well into the 80s for at least Friday and Saturday of next week!

Here's what the Climate Prediction Center has to say about this. The following graphics are the CPC's 8-14 day Temperature and Precipitation Outlooks. These are updated daily by the CPC, and are of course, subject to change. These graphics represent the CPC's forecast for the May 22 (Next Thursday) to May 28 (Wednesday after Memorial Day)

This forecast mirrors that of the GFS model, keeping a HUGE chunk of the country cooler than normal. You can see the darkest shades of blue over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, which shows that our temperatures have the best chance of being well below normal.  So how about the precipitation forecast?

So even though the CPC hints at a cooler forecast, like the GFS model, they also do hint at a slightly drier than normal time period, closer to the ECMWF's suggestion.

So what does that tell us as a whole? Really, not much! There's the possibility we could see very warm temperatures for the Memorial Day weekend, there's a chance it could be very cool and damp. One thing we DO know for sure, is that we'll keep a very close eye on this, and keep you posted as it draws near!

Please feel free to leave your comments and questions, and of course, stop by frequently for updates!