The sun often is still dimly visible through altostratus clouds but gradually fades. Precipitation is often just hours away. Winds freshen from the east or southeast. Precipitation is usually steady and light to moderate. Sometimes, especially in spring, heavy downpours and thunder may signify some imbedded cumulonimbus in the nimbostratus clouds.
Clouds continue to lower during the precipitation.
When the air becomes saturated near the ground, fog may form. This is usually a sign you are near a warm front. If the precipitation ends, winds shift to the south or southwest and the skies brighten, the warm front is likely to have passed. The air in the warm sector of storms is usually hazy, unseasonably warm and humid. Darkening skies and freshening winds are usually the signs that the next change associated with a storm passage, the cold front is approaching.