Austin Forecast: Robust Rain Chances Give Way To Sunny Skies

AUSTIN, TX — On the fifth day before Christmas, the National Weather Service gave to me: Some likely showers, cloudy conditions, lows in the 40s, calm winds a-blowing and percent chance of rain at 70.

Forgive the holiday outburst. Let's get straight to the weather.

The weekend will kick off with showers, according to forecasters, with showers likely before 3 p.m. It's a cloudy Friday, with a high temperature expected to reach 53 degrees. Saving grace: Negligible winds blowing at a puny 5 miles per hour.

Here's the big weather news: The chance of precipitation is 60 percent. More showers are likely come nightfall, mainly before midnight. The low will be a nippy 45 degrees, with east winds remaining calm at 5 miles per hour. Rain chances will increase by nightfall on Friday, with a 70 percent chance of the wet stuff in the evening, forecasters say.

But then, sunny days will be here again. But (there's always a but), temps will dip to the 30s in the coming days.

Saturday is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high of 59 degrees. Saturday night will be partly cloudy with a low of 36 degrees. The winds will be calm, thank goodness, at around 5 miles per hour. This means the wind chill will be minimal if not imperceptible to the exposed flesh.

So what about Sunday? Sunny! With a high near 62! North-northwest winds around 5 miles per hour! Sunday night calls for clear skies with a low of around 36 degrees, with the same-speed winds.

Below is how the rest of the forecast is shaping out — including the forecast for Wednesday, Dec. 25, aka Christmas Day — as National Weather Service forecasters divine the week. Spoiler alert: Santa will be most pleased with the weather being predicted on what will be his busiest night.

• Monday: Sunny, with a high near 67 degrees. West wind will muster anemic speed of 5 miles per hour, so there's that.
• Monday night: Mostly clear, with a low of around 39 degrees. Winds will be unchanged in their velocity, but will shift direction from the south.
• Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69 degrees. Wind speeds finally start to achieve more speed by now, but no greater than 10 miles per hour coming in from the south/southwest, forecasters predict.
• Tuesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low of 49 degrees.
• Wednesday * CHRISTMAS DAY * forecast: It's a Christmas miracle! Despite the immutable fact that we're in the midst of winter, the forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a high near 73 degrees. The jolly old elf may have to negotiate some clouds as he meanders in his sleigh, as it's expected to be partly cloudy on the big day. The low: 47 degrees.
• Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers that Santa will have dodged on the day after Christmas. It's expected to be party sunny with a high near 67 degrees. The chance of showers is 30 percent.

And now you'll hear Patch exclaim before deadline tonight: "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”