Mother Day will bring a split-screen forecast across the country, with soaking rain and storms in parts of the South and sunshine in much of the West. A frontal system will slide through the South and East on Sunday, setting up scattered showers and thunderstorms ahead of it during the day.
A few strong to severe storms are possible late Sunday from Texas to Louisiana, Arkansas and southern Oklahoma, while most of the western half of the country is expected to stay mainly dry. In the Northeast, rain should hold off for most of the day along the coast, including Boston and New York City.
The numbers tell the story. Highs in the central Plains, Rockies and Northwest are expected to reach the 70s in some places, and that is the kind of weather forecasters say makes for an easy holiday outdoors. Jonathan Erdman put it plainly: “You can't ask for better than 70s for your mom, right?”
But the picture changes fast once you move south and west. Miami is likely to climb above 90 degrees, Phoenix could top out between 105 and 110 degrees, and daily record highs are possible from California into Nevada and southern Idaho. Humidity should be somewhat muggy in the Deep South, while most of the rest of the country sees more comfortable air.
The broad setup is a national forecast rather than one local storm, with the western half of the country mostly dry and the South and East carrying the best chance for showers and thunderstorms. For people trying to make plans on Mother Day, that means the best weather window is likely earlier in the day in spots where clouds and storms build later.
That includes Connecticut, where Sunday starts with areas of fog and low cloudiness before afternoon sunshine breaks through. Temperatures there should reach the upper 60s and low 70s, with isolated to widely scattered showers developing in the afternoon as a weak cold front moves through. Erdman said, “In these areas, you may want to spend your time outside early in the day, not in the afternoon.”
In Rochester, Minnesota, the morning could begin with a slight chance of patchy frost before sunnier skies and a few fair-weather clouds take over. Highs there should stay in the upper 50s and low 60s, cooler than much of the country but still calmer than the stormier stretches farther south.
Sunday night into early Monday, a few showers may linger in Connecticut, especially along the shoreline, but the state is expected to dry out by the commute and see partial clearing later in the day. By then, the holiday will have done what it always does: divide the map, give some families a perfect afternoon, and send others looking for shelter from the rain.
