MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES AHEAD

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Milder weather is ahead for winter-weary residents as warmer temperatures and sunshine are forecast to return this weekend.

Forecasters say partly sunny skies should push temperatures into the mid- to upper-40s or higher by the weekend.

The warmer weather and promise of sunshine will be welcome relief to residents fed up with over 30 days of nearly consecutive cloudy days since Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, the weather service says the trend toward more seasonable temperatures is expected to continue through mid-February. That's in sharp contrast to the first 10 days of January, which were anything but normal.

Dr. Al Robertson, of the Earth Science Department at Southeast Missouri State University, said the average temperature here for the period, Jan. 1-15, was 31.8 degrees, down .6 of a degree from the long-term average of 32.4.

But Robertson pointed out the average for the first 10 days of the month was down three degrees (to 29.5 degrees) from the long-term average of 32.6 degrees.

Robertson said the daily high at the airport finally went above 39 degrees for the first time this month on Monday, when the temperature reached 52 degrees. That was also the warmest day so far this month.

The coldest reading so far this month was 14 degrees, on Jan. 1 and 4. Another cold morning was Jan. 3, when the low dropped to 17 degrees.

It has also been wet during the first half of the month, Robertson added. Precipitation at the airport now totals 2.82 inches, less than .2 of an inch below the long-term average monthly total of 2.84 inches.

In its 30-day, mid-January to mid-February outlook, the National Weather Service calls for seasonable temperatures and near normal amounts of precipitation.