Published: March 13, 2008 08:49 am         

Weather watch

By MARK HANOK

A fast jet stream will continue out of the northwest, and temperatures will continue to average from normal to slightly below normal during the upcoming week.

On Friday, low pressure and its associated warm front will approach from the Ohio Valley, and bring mostly cloudy skies, with occasional showers especially in the afternoon; highs will be in the mid-40s.

A cold front early Saturday will bring a shift to northwesterly flow, and variable cloudiness with a few rain or snow showers; highs will be in the low 40s.

Colder air will arrive on Sunday, with strong northwesterly winds and intervals of clouds and sunshine and a few snow showers; highs will be in the middle 30s.

Beautiful early spring weather will return for St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, with bright sunshine, a northwest wind and highs in the low 40s.

As low pressure approaches from the western Great Lakes, skies will be mostly cloudy with a few showers on Tuesday, and highs from 42 to 47 degrees.

With dry air in place, skies were sunny early in the morning Friday in the Western Catskills and the Cooperstown area.

Clouds took over, and by late afternoon light rain began; highs were in the low 40s. A steady, moderate rain moved into the area during the evening.

Low pressure quickly intensified as it moved northeastward from western Virginia on Saturday morning, to right over the Western Catskills by early evening, when its central barometric pressure was below 29.00 inches of mercury. A cold rain continued all day in Otsego County, highs were in the upper 30s.

After morning snow showers on Sunday, the clouds gave way to partly sunny skies by early afternoon, and over eastern sections of our area, mostly sunny skies. With a westerly breeze, highs were in the upper 20s. It was a classic upslopedownslope pattern across New York State on Monday, with a light northwest flow and a weak upper-level trough moving eastward to the Finger Lakes and north central Pennsylvania. This resulted in considerable cloudiness and occasional snow flurries in our region, and highs around 30 degrees. On the downslope side and further from the low, skies were mostly sunny all day in the lower Hudson Valley, with highs in the low 40s.

Bright sunshine continued through most of the day Tuesday, and even though highs were only in the mid to upper 30s, it seemed warmer in the strong March sunshine. Clouds took over during the late afternoon and evening in advance of the approaching trough.

Mark Hanok is an Otego based meteorologist. You can visit him on the World Wide Web at http://members. aol.com/weathergazette.