Showers Friday; Heavy Rain Sunday

Good afternoon folks! Temps are once again above average today as the valleys sit in the mid 70's and although we'll cool down slightly (by a few degrees) Friday through Sunday, we'll also deal with a good bit of rain. Most of SW NC will pick up 2 - 3" of rain tomorrow into Sunday, with the bulk of that falling on Sunday. Sunshine returns Monday and will likely hold firm till Wednesday, although the models are pointing at another disturbance sweeping the Southeast around the middle of the week. Temps continue to remain above freezing and although its never a guarantee, with each passing day we are becoming more and more confident our freeze threat is over for the season.

Temps tonight dip into the low - upper 50's and winds out of the south and southeast will become quite strong, with a steady wind around 15mph for the valleys and 30mph for the ridgelines, gusting up to 50mph at times. Showers develop along the escarpment this evening and gradually expand northwest in coverage as the night moves along.

Friday features a warm front lifting north and stalling across the region, with a band of showers lifting north out of the SC Piedmont. We expect scattered showers and a few thunderstorms throughout the day, with peak coverage around the early afternoon hours. Temps will reach the low 60's - low 70's and dip to the low - upper 50's Friday night, with isolated shower chances lingering into Saturday.

Saturday and Sunday feature spotty showers Saturday afternoon as the warm front remains draped across the region, allowing showers to spin up past midday, however we do not expect a washout, more so an afternoon that could be interrupted by pop up showers. On Sunday a different story will play out as a front sweeps in from the west, ushering in more southerly flow and additional showers with heavy rain and thunderstorms moving in after midday. Showers end closer to sunset and clouds clear out overnight into Monday. An inch or two of rain is likely across the region on Sunday, with the bulk of the action falling along the SC state line due to upslope enhancement. Temps Saturday rise to low 60's - mid 70's and cool down a degree or two on Sunday due to the heavy rainfall.

We'l have a minor cool down Monday with temps in the low 50's - mid 60's, which is closer to normal for this time of the year. Our next discussion will come out Saturday afternoon, focusing on the heavy rain Sunday and brief dry period Monday and Tuesday. ENJOY!