Low 80's Hold Firm; Dry and Sunny

Good afternoon folks! We'll continue to deal with a dry setup Friday into the middle to latter part of next week and for those wishing for cooler temps, it looks like we'll continue to wait. The Climate Prediction Center released their 8 - 14 day outlook and our region sits firmly in the above average zone. Keep in mind "above average" does not translate to summer like temps but instead 4 - 6 degrees above what we expect for this time of the year. For Cullowhee, the average temps for late September are in the upper 70's for the high and low 50's for the low. With this in mind we expect temps to return to the low 80's this weekend and hold to this level all of next week, likely extending into the following week.

Sunny skies return for Friday after a crisp start in the upper 40's for most of the region and we expect mostly sunny skies to continue all the way into the middle part of next week, with a slight chance for passing clouds and an isolated shower Monday. The high pressure system overhead currently will shift east through time and a cold front is expected to cross the region around Monday. This is when our best chance for passing clouds and the occasional ridgeline shower will occur, but nothing to plan around if you still have a garden going or perhaps are watching your lawn wilter.

Afternoon highs will push into the low 80's each afternoon across the lower elevations, while the ridgelines enjoy temps in the mid 60's each afternoon, followed by lows in the upper 40's - mid 50's depending upon elevation.

With such a boring forecast we'll stop here and wait till Sunday late afternoon to release our next discussion and until then, enjoy the sunshine!