A Sunny Summer Solstice
Good morning folks and Happy Summer Solstice! The solstice will take place at 11:54am and today will be the longest day of the year in terms of daylight, roughly 4.5 hours more daylight than what we experience on December 21st (Winter Solstice). We'll welcome the Summer Solstice with sunshine and warm temps today, followed by a round of showers and thunderstorms late tonight. Another round of scattered thunderstorms, possibly organized as a squall line, will push through late Saturday afternoon, with Sunday offering up a normal summer time setup as pop up thunderstorms develop after midday. A front approaches the region Monday, arriving closer to sunset and will deliver yet another round of showers and thunderstorms. This front is likely to stall or fizzle out just to our southeast early next week and when coupled with southerly flow, we expect afternoon thunderstorms Tuesday and Wednesday. Late next week is still too far out to be certain, but it does seem we'll turn up the heat and perhaps dry out some as the dreaded upper level ridge moves overhead.
Temps today (Friday) will reach the upper 60's - mid 80's depending upon elevation under sunny skies, followed by a round of showers and thunderstorms late tonight, closer to sunrise than midnight. Temps tonight will settle into the upper 50's - mid 60's with clear skies to start the night and cloudy skies as we approach sunrise.
Saturday features a round of showers around daybreak, with another, possibly stronger round of showers and thunderstorms moving in late in the day. The timing of this second round is still not set in stone, but it seems showers will move through anywhere from 5 - 9pm, so keep an eye to the sky if you have outdoor plans. Sunday will offer up generic summertime thunderstorms, popping up in the usual locations and with a westerly flow across the region, most all of SW NC will be in play as opposed to the ridgelines only. Temps Saturday and Sunday hit the low 70's - mid 80's, but prep for heat indices in the upper 80's due to increasing moisture levels (aka muggy). Overnight lows continue to settle into the low - mid 60's each night.
Early next week doesn't offer much change to the current pattern, with another round of showers and thunderstorms slated to move through Monday evening, setting up Tuesday and Wednesday for scattered thunderstorms each afternoon as the front lingers just to our south and east. Muggy conditions remain and temps will continue to push into the upper 60's - mid 80's, although Tuesday may have a shot at being a few degrees cooler if more clouds develop than anticipated.
Our next discussion will come out Sunday late afternoon and we'll focus on the Monday through Thursday time frame.