'Enjoy this weekend for sure': Fall weather to briefly visit the Phoenix area

Weather in the Valley this weekend is expected to be just about perfect, so soak it up before it gets hot again.

Perhaps it's a good time for a run or a bike ride. That's the plan for meteorologist Matt Salerno of the National Weather Service in Phoenix when he's not working.

"Just get out and enjoy the nice change," he said.

A cold front is coming and about half the Valley might see measurable rain Friday morning: moderate showers, maybe a rumble of thunder or two. The afternoon is expected to be dry and gusty, with up to 30 mph winds and a high in the low 80s.

Then, the reward for enduring a Phoenix summer: a Saturday morning in the middle to upper 50s, and a high around 78.

"It's going to feel crisp," Salerno said. "It's going to feel like a fall day, for sure."

Sunday is expected to see a high in the low 80s.

But then, alas, early next week highs are expected to return to the 90s — by the middle of the week, pushing 100.

It could be a La Niña winter, when a cooling of part of the Pacific Ocean, the equatorial Pacific mostly, contributes to changing weather patterns over the lower 48 states, Salerno explained. That keeps the jet stream further north and a ridge of high pressure over the desert southwest, bringing warmer and drier weather than usual.

So make the most of the next few days.

"Just enjoy it," Salerno said. "Enjoy this weekend for sure."

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