If you’re hoping for a cookout or to take the boat out on the lake this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that we’re heading for a stretch of sunny weather with above-normal temperatures.

Compared to last weekend’s cool, wet weather, temperatures will be about 20 to 25 degrees warmer starting Wednesday and Thursday, National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Bollenbacher said Monday morning.

Fresno and Clovis can expect daytime highs this weekend in the low to mid-80s with sunny skies, Bollenbacher said.

The warm-up is the result of a high-pressure ridge that’s building over the eastern Pacific and will expand over California starting midweek, he said.

Weekend Rains Boosted Annual Total

Rain storms on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning brought more than an inch of rain to the San Joaquin Valley, with as much as 1.25 inches falling in Fresno and Clovis, Bollenbacher said.

The weekend’s rain raised Fresno’s seasonal total to 9.64 inches, close to the seasonal average of 9.81 inches, he said.

The longer-range forecast for the next seven days is for continued warm and dry weather.

But we may not be out of the woods yet for rain and snowfall, Bollenbacher said. There could be additional precipitation later this month, although likely it will be lighter than last weekend’s storms and might only fall as snow in the higher Sierra elevations, he said.

More snow could postpone the opening of the trans-Sierra highways.