Isolated Thunderstorms Thursday!

Good afternoon folks! It's been a long time since I was excited to talk about isolated shower chances but after this stretch of record breaking heat and no rain, I'll take whatever we can get. The record heat will continue into Wednesday and Thursday, cooling down roughly 5 degrees by Friday and into the weekend. Isolated (possibly scattered) thunderstorms will develop on Thursday as a cold front approaches the region and isolated shower chances continue into Friday and Saturday, ramping up to scattered chances on Sunday. Temps Friday through Sunday will still be above normal but noticeably cooler, especially in the shade. One other notable mention will be the dewpoints, which will be extremely low Wednesday through Friday, returning to normal as the weekend moves along.

Temps Wednesday and Thursday hit the upper 80's across the valleys and could possibly hit the 90°F mark in downtown environments like Sylva and Waynesville. Along the ridgelines they will only reach the upper 60's - low 70's and sunshine will dominate the sky Wednesday, while partly cloudy skies end the day on Thursday due to pop up thunderstorms. The best chance for thunderstorm activity Thursday will be along the NW facing ridgelines as NW flow sets up shop, which will favor the Smokies and the northern portion of the region. Overnight lows dip into the upper 50's - low 60's each night.

Beginning Friday temps will only climb to the mid 60's - low 80's depending upon elevation and these levels will carry over into the weekend, with a slightly better chance for isolated showers on Friday than Saturday. As mentioned above scattered thunderstorms are possible on Sunday, but don't cancel your outdoor plans, simply keep an eye to the sky or your favorite radar app/website on your phone/desktop. Overnight lows follow suit, dipping into the low - upper 50's each night.

Our next discussion will come out Friday morning and we'll focus on the weekend and the upcoming work week.