Today's Weather: It's A Stormy Morning, But Skies Will Clear By Afternoon

A potent weather system is pushing through New England this morning, bringing with it some heavy downpours and even the rumble of thunder.

This low pressure area is going to keep a strong burst of winds right along the coastline — especially Essex County — for the first part of the morning before things diminish during the middle part of the day.  Power issues are possible in these areas.

I do expect there will be some clearing this afternoon, along with gusty wind and temperatures near 50 degrees. After today's storm system, it looks as though things will be drier and cooler through the weekend before we see a warm-up next week.

Don't put away your skis just yet. The precipitation we're experiencing as rain in Greater Boston is heavy snow in the ski areas of Maine and northern New Hampshire. Northern sections of Vermont will also get some accumulating snow later today on the back side of this system.

Temperatures this weekend will be cold, generally staying in the 30s with some teens and mid-20s at sunrise. There will be a moderating trend Monday, as readings get back near 50 degrees, followed by a few showers Tuesday.

In spite of the warm pattern, you can still see some snow. I do think that later next week, there may be an opportunity for a little bit of the white stuff, but it's still too early to say.

With the final days of February at hand, we'll have to crunch the numbers and see where this meteorological winter ends up. But we know it's going to be at the top of the heap — it's just a matter of how high up we end the season.

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Thursday: Early rain, may thunder. Gusty winds. Late day sunny breaks. Blustery. Highs 46-54.

Thursday night: Clearing and chilly. Lows 18-24.

Friday: Sunshine and cold. Highs 35-40.

Saturday: Mainly sunny. Chilly. Highs in the 30s.

Sunday: Partial sunshine. Highs 33-39.

Monday: Continued sun, not as cold. Highs around 48.

Tuesday: Showers possible. Highs in the 50s.