Clearing Skies Friday; Sunny this Wknd
Good morning folks! The ice event was a bust for the most part, with calls for 0.10 - 0.15" along the Southern Highlands Plateau not coming to fruition and lower than forecasted amounts coming out of Transylvania and Haywood counties, with a general 0.10 - 0.20" being reported across the higher elevations. Failed forecast aside, let's take a look at the rest of today through Tuesday of next week. The highlights continue to be sunshine and warming temps this weekend, followed by a shot of rain/snow Sunday night into Monday afternoon (nothing substantial). The models hint at dry weather continuing into the middle part of next week alongside above normal temps, possibly hitting the low 60's!
The remainder of the day features passing clouds, spotty light showers, and the occasional break in the clouds. With southwest flow continuing we'll see temps warm to the low - upper 40's across the region. Temps tonight settle into the mid 20's - mid 30's depending upon elevation and this will create an opportunity for sleet across the higher elevations, while the valleys experience a cold rain with scattered coverage before midnight.
A secondary low develops along the coast tomorrow morning and keeps moisture across the region a bit longer than expected. We still anticipate sunshine to take over but it may not occur for all of SW NC till the early - mid afternoon hours. Wintry precip will cutoff along the TN line before 10am and NW winds take over, with wind speeds around 5 - 10mph throughout the valleys, ramping up to 15 - 25mph across the higher elevations. Temps make it to the low 30's - mid 40's depending upon elevation after midday; should warm up just in time for WCU's Baseball Season Opener against Towson at 4pm. Temps Friday night plummet to the low - upper teens under mostly clear skies.
The weekend looks gorgeous with mostly sunny skies overhead each day and Saturday will be a bit chilly with temps once again reaching the mid 40's across the lower elevations. Temps make a run at the low 50's Sunday afternoon and overnight lows will settle into the upper teens across the valleys Saturday night while they bottom out to the mid 20's along the ridgelines.
Sunday night is a different story with temps dropping into the upper 20's - mid 30's depending upon elevation, alongside increasing clouds before midnight. Wintry precip is possible for most of the region late Sunday night and at this point in time it seems the higher elevations above 3800' stand a chance at picking up 1 - 2" of wet snow, while the valleys deal with a rain/snow mix, possibly resulting in a dusting of wet snow. This event looks to be very minimal but of course we'll provide updates if this changes. All of this should wrap up by the late morning hours on Monday and temps will push to the upper 30's - upper 40's later in the day, with clearing skies taking over by the evening hours.
Tuesday (and possibly Wednesday) brings sunshine back to the region, with temps warming to the low 40's - mid 50's Tuesday afternoon, likely warming even further on Wednesday to the low 60's!
The next discussion will be posted Saturday morning around 9am.