Saturday, December 21st Forecast: Winter has offically started

Well, today is officially the first day of winter. I can't stand winter. I can't stand the cold. However, today is a day I happily look forward to every year. Starting tomorrow the days start getting longer and longer for the next 6 months.

Unfortunately, that means today will be the shortest day of the year with only 9 hours and 36 minutes of daylight.

After a chilly Friday, we will thankfully be on a slow and steady warmup. While temperatures will be better for today, they will still be cold. Highs will only peak in the low 40s. Light easterly winds will keep the feels-like forecast contained in the 30s for the majority of the day.

Sunshine sticks around for Sunday as temperatures continue to climb in the right direction. Upper 40s and lower 50s are forecasted for Sunday.

Now let's get into your forecast for Christmas week. Mild temperatures will be staying in places. Every day next week should have highs in the 50s, if not the lower 60s.

Given temperatures will be staying well above average, it should go without saying, that we will not be getting a white Christmas this year. However, we have chances for a wet Christmas.

A low-pressure system will be traversing across the Ozarks on Christmas Eve on Tuesday. Showers and overcast conditions are forecasted to persist all day long. Rain and light drizzle can linger into the start of Christmas morning before the skies slowly start to clear. The heaviest rainfall is expected to occur to the south where over 1" of rainfall will be possible.