Dry and Warming Up; Upper 80's Tuesday

Good morning folks! Everyone is waking up to temps in the 40's and like any fall day, we'll rebound to the upper 70's - low 80's this afternoon (Saturday) as we enjoy another day of full sun across the Southeast. The high pressure system will migrate east and begin to shift the overall flow to out of the south by later this evening, setting the stage for a gradual uptick in moisture levels Sunday into Tuesday. Sunday wraps up the weekend under more sunshine and temps will reach the mid 80's across the valleys, holding to this level as we start the week on Monday. An upper level ridge will also migrate over the eastern portion of the country as we head into the work week, allowing temps on Tuesday to soar to the upper 80's, marking the hottest day of the week. Even though this is SW NC and rain is almost a guarantee, the next three days (Sat - Mon) will be rain free as both high pressure and an upper level ridge conspire to keep our region dry. But alas, moisture always wins out across this part of the state and pop up showers return Wednesday, however coverage will remain isolated and mostly sunny skies will make up most of the action. Shower coverage slowly increases to scattered levels by Thursday/Friday of next week and temps will respond, cooling down slightly to the low 80's by week's end, which is still 2 - 3 degrees above normal for the middle of September. All in all, not a bad forecast if you want summer like conditions to linger and we could all use a slight break from the rain, especially along the Highlands Plateau.

We'll kick off the timeline on Sunday and temps start the day in upper 40's - mid 50's alongside fog within the deeper valley towns (Bryson City, Franklin, Sylva, Cullowhee, Maggie Valley, and Waynesville), giving way to full sunshine. Temps respond as they reach the mid 80's across the valleys, climbing to the upper 60's above 5500'. Overnight lows settle into the low - upper 50's under mostly clear skies.

Monday will feature much of the same as Sunday, highs in the low 70's - mid 80's depending upon elevation under mostly sunny skies. We'll notice an uptick in moisture levels as we start the week and muggy conditions are likely by Monday afternoon, so dress for late summer as you head out the door because it will be another 4 - 6 days till we cool down enough to call it fall like conditions.

By Tuesday temps will peak to the upper 80's across the valleys under a mixed bag of mostly sunny skies becoming partly cloudy later in the day. Moisture levels continue to increase by mid week and showers return Wednesday with isolated coverage, increasing to scattered coverage Thursday and Friday. This will help cool temps to the mid 80's Wednesday and low 80's Thursday and Friday.

We'll stop here and circle back Monday morning around 10:30am. ENJOY the weekend!