A cold front has moved into the area causing a drop in temperatures, but the sun will be back Thursday, said Matt Belk, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Charleston Bureau.

Tuesday, September 21, 1999

A cold front has moved into the area causing a drop in temperatures, but the sun will be back Thursday, said Matt Belk, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Charleston Bureau.

"It’s getting to be that time of year," Belk said. "Typically, spring and fall are transition seasons, and we’re starting fall here shortly. We should get a little cool spell, then it will warm back up again, and then we’ll have another cool spell and it will warm back up again. It will gradually cool down as we head into winter."

Temperatures are expected to reach a high of about 60 today, and hit around 35-40 tonight, Belk added.

"Then Wednesday, we will have lows in the 60s, and around 40 Wednesday night," he said. "Thursday it will reach about 70-75."

And although rain was a big part of the first day of the cold spell, it should have left the area by this morning, Belk said.

"There’s no rain expected," he said. "There may be a lingering something through (Tuesday) morning, and this dry weather will last through Saturday."

Which means the area isn’t out of the woods yet when it comes to the drought, Belk added.

"We still have a rainfall deficit," he said. "I’m still showing a 9- to 12-inch deficit, and for the shorter term, from April 1 to Sept. 7, I see that Lawrence County is still 5 to 6 inches behind."

Which means open burning is still not a good idea, Belk said.

"This is definitely going to be a fire season to be cautious of," he said. "If we would have gotten the remnants of Floyd, it would have helped out. But hurricanes move with the wind, and the wind didn’t push the rain this way, it pushed it out to sea."