Expect a nice preview of spring this week, as temperatures should top 70 degrees most days. 

Look for a steady climb into the upper 70s by Thursday before a cold front approaches, bringing us a chance for rain on Thursday and highs closer to normal, near 68 degrees, by Friday.  It's a short-lived cool down, though, as a south wind brings back more warm weather through the weekend and into early next week.

In addition to possible rain on Thursday, look for another chance coming early next week, likely on Monday. Although we've had some good, soaking rain recently, don't expect a repeat performance this week.  Rainfall amounts should add up to less than a half inch across southeast Texas.

This winter has been unusually warm and wet, so this week's forecast doesn't seem unusual.  However, considering that we're in the midst of a La Nina weather pattern, the forecast is quite the opposite of what we'd expect.  Typical La Nina winters are drier than normal for this region, and most long-range forecasts published last fall predicted a continuation of our extreme drought through the winter.  Fortunately, the soaking rains over the past three months have put a major dent in the Texas drought and leave us in much better shape to weather the upcoming warm season.