Dry through Wednesday; Rain Thursday
Good Morning Folks! We start out the work and school week with temps in the low - upper 30's across the region, but temps will warm to seasonal levels and gradually rise to above normal levels by Wednesday, but nothing too hot for Halloween. As the high pressure system providing us with sunshine today through Wednesday slides off the coast Wednesday afternoon, a cold front will approach the region and develop light showers overnight into Thursday. Showers become widespread Thursday but the front will be quick moving and clearing skies should occur as soon as midday Friday, with more sunshine slated for the weekend. For those fretting over Halloween night plans, you should be ok as the bulk of the rain will move in past midnight and although some of you may still be out and about, intensities will be light.
Although this news is a few days old at this point, its still worth mentioning that Mt LeConte and Clingmans Dome picked up their first snow of the season this past Saturday with a dusting across the ridgelines. The picture on the home page is from LeConte Lodge.
Sunshine today will bring temps to the upper 40's for the ridgelines and low 60's for the valleys, with NW winds calming down as the day moves along. With winds dying down and clear skies overhead tonight, temps will plummet into the upper 20's - low 30's for the valleys, while the ridgelines sit in the upper 30's - low 40's due to excellent radiational cooling conditions, resulting in a temperature inversion by sunrise Tuesday. This of course will bring a heavy frost and freeze for the valley, but at this point in the season all of your sensitive plants should be indoors.
Tuesday and Wednesday keep sunshine overhead with temps warming to the upper 50's - upper 60's Wednesday afternoon, possibly reaching 70°F in towns such as Sylva and Franklin. Overnight lows dip into the upper 30's - mid 40's Tuesday night depending upon elevation and only settle into the low - mid 50's Wednesday night as cloudy skies move in ahead of the passing line of showers. As we mentioned above, for those heading out for Halloween it looks rather pleasant with temps in the 50's and shower chances wont ramp up till past midnight, so all in all it will be calm weather night for trick or treaters.
Thursday brings us passing showers as the cold front crosses the region, followed by clearing skies late Friday and then sunshine Saturday. We'll provide another update Wednesday but for now the rainfall totals look to remain under an inch for most of SW NC. Temps Thursday cool down to the mid 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation and continue to cool down to the mid 40's- mid 50's by Saturday afternoon.