Above Average Temps Linger

Good Morning Folks! Not much to talk about in the way of impactful weather, although one might argue the above normal temps could certainly impact some tourism companies as many plan for cooler temps this time of the year. Generally the valleys in SW NC should be experiencing afternoon highs in the low 70's, with overnight lows in the upper 40's - low 50's. For those who haven't been outside lately, we know this is not the case this go around as we deal with temps in the low 80's each afternoon after a much warmer start in the upper 50's - low 60's each morning. At the bottom of this discussion you will find a look at the 1981 - 2010 Climate Normals for Cullowhee, showing a dip to the mid 60's and upper 30's for the high and low by the end of the month. NOAA has released their monthly outlook and it shows above normal temps for all of the Southeast, which of course means warmer temps but it doesn't mean cooler temps are out of the picture. We still expect temps to dip into the mid 70's and mid 50's by the second week of the month, but of course our early season snow events may not happen this year.

With the above in mind, temps will push into the low 80's Monday through Friday for our lower elevations, while the ridgelines only peak to the low - mid 60's. So if you're looking to escape the heat, be sure to plan a Parkway drive or perhaps a high elevation hike. Overnight lows will dip into the mid 50's - low 60's for most of the region, with fog developing most nights across the valleys as moisture continues to linger, but not enough to develop scattered showers (which would in turn cool us down).

Passing high clouds today and a few tomorrow make up most of the cloud activity this week and we expect isolated shower chances each afternoon, mainly for the ridgelines. Mostly sunny skies setup shop Wednesday and linger into the weekend and this is all due to a stubborn upper level ridge and crawling high pressure system. The models point to a shakeup sometime early next week, so fingers crossed we can bring in some rain to cool us down.