Showers Thur/Fri; Sunshine this Weekend

Good afternoon folks! The models are continuing to show the two pieces of energy phasing late and perhaps not at all and this translates into a light rain event for the region Thursday late afternoon into Friday afternoon. If you have outdoor plans and can ride out a passing shower or two under a tent or shelter, then keep your plans as we do not expect a washout with rainfall totals under a half inch over the 48 hour period. After the front exits Friday, dry air and clearing skies move in Friday night, setting up a pleasant mid spring weekend for the area with sunshine overhead and temps warming to slightly above average levels. The models show another frontal passage occurring late Sunday but available moisture looks lacking, so for now we are only going with possible isolated showers before sunset. Southerly flow will return early next week and this will bring us our best chance for pop up showers like we experience during the summer months, as opposed to the passing fronts and large low pressure system rain events we have dealt with lately.

Temps today (Wednesday) hit the low 80's across the valleys, while the ridgelines sit in the mid - upper 60's with westerly winds around 10 - 15mph. Clouds increase slowly tonight and keep temps from dropping too far, settling into the upper 40's - mid 50's depending upon elevation.

Thursday keeps mostly cloudy skies overhead and temps are still able to make a run at the low 60's along the ridgelines, up to the upper 70's across the valleys. Showers will likely break out along the escarpment and N GA state line as early as 3 - 5pm, with coverage becoming widespread around the pre dawn hours on Friday. Coverage wanes a bit late Friday morning but could pick back up shortly after midday as the second piece of energy passes overhead. This event will feature light - moderate shower intensities and rainfall totals should be under a half inch by the time everything wraps up Friday before or shortly after sunset. Temps on Friday cool down to the mid 50's along the ridgelines and only warm to the upper 60's - low 70's in the valleys, dipping to the upper 30's - mid 40's (depending upon elevation) Friday night under clearing skies.

The weekend looks gorgeous as sunshine dominates the landscape and temps push into the mid 60's - upper 70's both days, with overnight lows in the mid 40's - low 50's. We may change the forecast slightly to include isolated showers late Sunday but for now keep those outdoor plans.

The next best chance for showers will be early next week as pop up showers develop each afternoon and although we would love to be able to say exactly when and where, it's always difficult to nail down where showers develop due to terrain influence. We may have a better handle on the when in our next discussion, which will come out Friday afternoon.