Heavy Rain Saturday Night

Good afternoon folks! The forecasted rainfall amounts from the WPC has dropped since we last spoke, with several inches of rain likely for the escarpment area this weekend, while the interior portion of SW NC picks up an inch or two at most. This is mainly due to the lack of widespread rainfall this afternoon (Friday) and the delay in timing of the cold front to Saturday night. We still expect sunshine Sunday but rain returns Monday, peaking on Tuesday afternoon, with spotty showers likely Wednesday and Thursday. The one silver lining to all of this rain will be temps as they soar to the upper 60's this weekend, leveling out to the low - mid 60's early next week.

Temps Saturday will push into the upper 50's along the ridgelines, while the valleys enjoy temps in the upper 60's, alongside strong westerly winds around 10 - 20mph; ridgelines will gust up to 50mph! Widespread showers develop by the mid - late morning hours, but nothing heavy as we await the arrival of the cold front Saturday night. Heavy rain and strong storms roll through overnight into Sunday, with gust up to 50 - 60mph across the higher elevations, coupled with an inch of rain falling within an hour or two. This heavy hitting rain will be quick to move out, with most of the action over with by the pre dawn hours. Temps Saturday night will bottom out to the low - mid 40's across the region.

Sunday brings us sunshine and temps cool down a few degrees to the low - mid 50's along the ridgelines, with the valleys warming to the low - mid 60's. Clouds move in Sunday night and isolated showers return for the escarpment, with temps bottoming out to the mid - upper 40's across the region.

Showers roll into Monday and take most of the day to become widespread, with the bulk of the action occuring along the SC state line as southerly flow meets the escarpment. Showers coverage expands to widespread overnight into Tuesday, with intensity peaking Tuesday afternoon. Temps warm to the low - mid 60's both days across the lower elevations.

We'll circle back Sunday afternoon with another discussion and focus on the upcoming week, with a more detailed timeline on the rounds of rain arriving Monday into Wednesday.