Winter's Last Hurrah; Frost Tonight
Good afternoon folks! Snow fell once again across the Northern Mountains this morning, with a dusting recorded atop Beech Mountain; nothing confirmed for the Southern Mountains. We are still dealing with a chance of frost tonight for the area but the pattern will soon change as early summer conditions arrive by Friday, setting up a summer like weekend with only isolated shower chances. There is a slight chance for light showers late Tuesday into Wednesday, however coverage will be isolated and we'll still enjoy time outside as temps push back into the 70's!
Monday night will be cold for mid May with temps bottoming out to the low - mid 30's across the region as clear skies gradually give way to clouds during the pre dawn hours. This will prompt patchy frost to form across the region and when looking the at the mid range models it seems this will be winter's last gasp!
Tuesday starts the day on a chilly note but as southwesterly flow increases across the area temps will respond and push into the low 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation. There will likely be more clouds than sun overhead before midday and cloudy skies for the remainder of the afternoon, followed by isolated showers popping up along the escarpment just before sunset. Isolated shower coverage expands across all of SW NC overnight into Wednesday, with temps dipping into the low - mid 40's.
Isolated showers dot the landscape throughout the day on Wednesday under mostly cloudy skies, with all precip ending by the late afternoon hours; passing clouds will continue overhead throughout the night. Temps on Wednesday will push even further into the mid 50's - upper 60's and settle into the mid 40's - low 50's overnight into Thursday.
Some sunshine will begin to break through later in the week as cloud cover lessens and rises in height, with thin, high clouds making up all of the action for both Thursday and Friday. Temps will warm to the low - mid 60's along the ridgelines both days, while the valleys push to the upper 70's Thursday and possibly break into the low 80's by Friday. Overnight lows settle into the upper 40's - mid 50's each night under partly cloudy skies.
Looking ahead to the weekend it seems we will break into the low 80's for both Saturday and Sunday, while Saturday offers up sunny skies and Sunday the classic late day pop up shower or two we experience during the heart of summer.
We'll stop here and circle back on Wednesday and make sure to cover any sensitive plants tonight on what should be winter's last hurrah tonight!