Showers Return Late Thursday; Sunny this Weekend

Good Morning Folks! With the bulk of the rain off to our east as of 8:30am, rainfall totals will not climb much higher and notable totals include Cullowhee, Newfound Gap and Hogback Mtn (Panthertown area), where at least 1.2" of rain fell. The highest total across SW NC is out of Hogback Mtn where 1.34" fell overnight and into the morning, with wind gust up to 40 - 60mph across the ridgelines throughout the region. Drier air moves in this afternoon, setting up clear skies before sunset and a sunny Wednesday, however another disturbance moves through late Thursday, with showers peaking in coverage Friday. This late week round of rain will clear out late Friday evening and allow sunshine to pour into the area Saturday, however winds will pick up and temps will be below normal so plan for a dry yet chilly weekend. The models do hint at yet another passing band of showers early next week, but we'll only mention that at this time as the timing is likely to change.

Clouds will clear fairly quickly this afternoon, with the back end of the cloud deck sliding across middle TN as we speak. This will allow temps to push into the mid - upper 60's for most of the lower elevations, with winds dying down as the sun begins to take hold. Clear skies and little to no winds will bring temps plummeting into the upper 30's for the valleys, while the ridgelines sit in the low - mid 40's.

We'll wake up tomorrow and notice the how dry the airmass is and with sunshine overhead most of the day, Wednesday is our Weather Pick of the Week. Temps rise to the mid 60's across the lower elevations, only reaching the low 50's along the ridgelines and dipping back into the low - mid 40's overnight into Thursday. The reason temps wont dip any further overnight into Thursday is due to clouds building across the region, possibly beginning as soon as the mid - late afternoon hours, becoming mostly cloudy by the evening hours.

Cloudy skies and isolated showers make up most of the action on Thursday as the bulk of the rain is slated to arrive overnight into Friday, peaking late Friday morning and winding down by the evening hours. Temps will be slightly cooler Thursday, rising to the low 50's - low 60's depending upon elevation and only making it to the mid 40's - upper 50's Friday afternoon. Temps really nosedive Friday night as the front exits the region, ushering in colder temps from the NW that will bottom out to the upper 20's along the ridgelines and mid 30's for the valleys. Enough moisture will be present Friday night across the TN line and nearby ridgelines for wet snow to fall and a dusting up to an inch is possible in places like the Smokies, Cataloochee Divide and Great Balsams.

The weekend will feature sunny skies, some strong NW winds Saturday but for the most part the headline will be the cooler temps as they only reach the upper 30's - low 50's depending upon elevation Saturday and Sunday, with overnight lows in the 20's and 30's. We'll provide another forecast discussion Thursday morning and discuss the incoming rain, cooler temps this weekend and likely rainfall early next week. ENJOY!