Scattered Showers this Weekend
Good afternoon folks! Not much excitement over the next 5 - 7 days as an upper level trough sits atop the Southeast, while a Bermuda High spins moisture into the area from the south and southeast. This will translate into normal shower and thunderstorm activity across the region, with coverage peaking this weekend and slowly scaling back from scattered to isolated by the middle of next week. Temps will continue to push into the upper 60's along the ridgelines to the low 80's across the valleys Saturday into the middle of next week; normal highs are in the mid 80's for early - mid August across the lower elevations. All in all, we expect a normal summertime setup as we continue our march into the month of August and for those wondering when cooler temps arrive, it looks like we have another 1.5 months before fall like conditions settle into the higher elevations.
Saturday and Sunday features scattered showers and thunderstorms each afternoon, with decent cloud cover overhead, whether from nearby showers or the more widespread high cirrus clouds. This will work to keep temps to the low 80's across the valleys, while the ridgelines sit comfortably in the upper 60's - low 70's; overnight lows will dip into the upper 50's - mid 60's. Scattered thunderstorms will be able to tap into slightly higher than normal moisture levels and this translates to a high likelihood of heavy rain and possible hail for those who experience a passing storm or shower. Rainfall amounts will vary based on location of showers, with a half of an inch likely for most of SW NC this weekend, up to an inch or two for those who are caught under a strong thunderstorm.
Monday will be a repeat of Saturday and Sunday, although there may be less cloud cover and temps could push into the mid 80's across our more urban locations; Sylva, Waynesville, etc. Tuesday into Thursday will keep enough moisture around for pop up showers to develop, however we expect moisture levels to lessen a bit and this reduces our heat indices as well, so a slight increase in comfort levels with temps still climbing to the low 80's across the valleys.
Our next discussion will come out late Sunday morning and we'll focus on the week ahead, ending Thursday as next weekend is still up in the air.