Rain and Ridgeline Snow this Weekend
Good afternoon folks! We are closing out the work week this afternoon, looking ahead at a round of widespread showers that'll move through the region Saturday afternoon. Spotty showers will linger across the area on Sunday and it will be noticeably colder, so much so that snow showers will fall overnight into Monday above 4500' for locations along the TN line. Sunshine returns Monday and hangs around through Tuesday with temps returning to normal levels, but not after a frosty start to the day on Tuesday! Another round of region wide showers will begin to develop Tuesday night, peaking in coverage and intensity early Wednesday afternoon, followed by sunshine next Thursday.
Saturday will be an active day as an upper level low to our northwest swings a few disturbances our way, with a frontal crossing during the overnight hours.This will translate into increasing shower coverage as the morning hours move along, becoming widespread by the early - mid afternoon hours and continuing overnight into the pre dawn hours. Severe weather seems low at this time but strong thunderstorms are possible as well as heavy downpours, although coverage of these stronger storms will be scattered at best. Most of SW NC will pick up anywhere from 0.50 - 1.5" from Saturday morning into the pre dawn hours on Sunday, with the highest amounts likely along the SC state line. Temps Saturday warm to the upper 50's - mid 60's and drop to the low - upper 40's overnight, when a steadier rain is expected.
Widespread coverage will end shortly before sunrise on Sunday but NW flow will keep scattered showers going throughout the day, alongside mostly cloudy skies for a good portion of the region; coverage increases as you head toward the TN line. Temps will only climb to the mid 40's along the ridgelines, while the valleys warm to the upper 50's, but temps drop overnight to the low - upper 30's and this will allow rain to kick over to snow above 4500'; no accumulations expected but for the highest ridgelines above 6000'.
Monday brings sunny skies back to the region before the mid morning hours and temps will push to the low 50's - mid 60's. As high pressure sets up Monday night temps will drop to the low - mid 30's under clear skies and come roaring back on Tuesday as they reach the upper 50's - low 70's under more sunshine.
Wednesday features another round of heavy rain with possible strong to severe thunderstorms, followed by sunshine on Thursday. We'll stop here and circle back on Sunday with a focus on the short term snow chances, the frosty setup Tuesday morning and of course the next round of rain on Wednesday.