Everything is on the table

Just about every kind of weather phenomena is in the forecast for the next week. We've got snow, sleet, freezing rain, heavy rain, thunderstorms, wind gusts, subtropical air, and Arctic air on the way.

Take a few minutes to digest the official forecast for Cape Girardeau:

Saturday Night: A chance of snow after 7pm, mixing with rain after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 31. East northeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Sunday: A chance of rain, snow, and freezing rain before 7am, then rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 41. Light and variable wind becoming south around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Sunday Night: Rain likely before 7pm, then a chance of rain and sleet between 7pm and 1am, then a chance of rain or freezing rain after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 30. Light and variable wind becoming north northeast 5 to 7 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Monday: A chance of rain or freezing rain before 7am. Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Monday Night: Rain likely, mainly after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 33. East northeast wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Tuesday: Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 58. South southwest wind 5 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Tuesday Night: Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a low around 35. South southwest wind 11 to 14 mph becoming west northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday: Rain, snow, and sleet likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. North northwest wind around 11 mph.

Wednesday Night: A chance of snow and sleet. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 16. North northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.

Thursday: A slight chance of snow. Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. North northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming east in the afternoon.

The first rounds of wintry precip Saturday night and again Sunday night probably won't be that bad, as temperatures will quickly rise above freezing the following morning.

According to this afternoon's forecast discussion from Paducah, a "large plume of subtropical moisture" is expected to arrive Tuesday bringing very warm temperatures and high rainfall potential. Thunderstorms are certainly possible. Current projections show that we could receive over 1.5 inches of rain during the next five days.

The good news is that the rain and temperatures near 60 degrees on Tuesday will put an end to our snowpack, although there's a chance it could be replaced by a new snowpack by Wednesday as we enter the deep freeze again.

Welcome to March in Missouri.