It's getting to be that time of year again. Plans are in full swing for a number of parades and activities this weekend as Mardi Gras season rolls around.
Looking ahead, a reinforcing push of cold air by Wednesday and perhaps again on the weekend should keep temperatures seasonably cool for the first weekend of Mardi Gras celebrations. A upper-level low and trough to the west and southwest will likely keep skies mostly on the cloudy side for most of this week and into the weekend.
The big question is if the cloudy skies will produce enough precipitation to spoil the planned festivities in Galveston. At this point in time, the odds seem to favor a mostly dry weekend, but it would not take too much change in the overall pattern to set off a wetter scenario.
Although the low to the west will send a series of weak upper-level disturbances across southeast Texas, a major impediment to precipitation will be the fairly dry air at the surface. Also, with the low hanging back to the west and remaining fairly far to the south, the best chances for rain will be off to our south and west.
Assuming this pattern unfolds as expected, any rain we see in this area will be sporadic and light. But, forecasters cannot completely rule out more widespread rain and it may take a couple of days to get a better fix on exactly what our weekend will look like.
To summarize, the outlook is fairly promising for the weekend, but we may have to wait a couple of days to see if this trend continues.
Below are links to some forecast maps and precipitation outlooks for this weekend:
Friday Upper-level Forecast MapSaturday Upper-level Forecast MapWeekend Precipitation OutlookWednesday Surface Forecast MapFriday Surface Forecast Map 
