Ever-Increasing Shower Coverage

Good morning folks! We'll experience another round of scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon (Wednesday) and then coverage decreases slightly for Thursday, inching back to normal levels on Friday. The weekend is not looking great for those who want full sunshine and no rain as we expect the opposite to occur, with partly - mostly cloudy skies and shower coverage increasing Saturday into Sunday. An upper level trough and possible front will move into the region this weekend, increasing shower coverage across the region but also knocking temps down several degrees, holding to the upper 70's - low 80's by Sunday and Monday. If you need to get some yard work done before it rains, we suggest getting out before noon on Saturday and perhaps before mid morning on Sunday. Confidence levels drop a bit as we move into early next week but the overall pattern suggest we'll continue to see scattered to widespread shower coverage each afternoon, with activity continuing past midnight each night. We do not expect this to be a washout where its raining all the time but it will be tough to completely dry out and most of SW NC will pick up anywhere from 2 - 4" of rain starting Wednesday morning, ending Monday night.

We'll start the timeline on Thursday and if you really need a sunny-ish day to hit the water or just get outside while its dry, then this is your day. Partly cloudy - mostly sunny skies will start the day and continue into the early afternoon, with typical pop up showers developing as we near the mid - late afternoon hours. Coverage will be isolated and focused along the highest ridgelines, with temps warming to the mid - upper 80's across the valleys. Overnight lows will settle into the mid 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation under partly cloudy skies; showers fizzle out by the mid evening hours.

We initially paired Friday with Thursday in our previous discussion because they had a similar setup but it seems Friday will produce a handful more showers and thunderstorms compared to Thursday. The upper level trough will approach the region on Friday and once showers develop (early - mid afternoon), its likely they will continue to pop up across the area well into the overnight hours, ending sometime after midnight. Temps will cool down to the mid 80's for the lower elevations, only bottoming out to the low - mid 60's overnight into Saturday.

Saturday and Sunday continue this trend as the trough sets up shop across the region, with a possible frontal passage Sunday into Monday but confidence is low with the feature. Saturday will be a touch similar to Friday but there is likely to be more cloud cover and stronger storms compared to Friday. Sunday on the other hand brings about much more cloud cover and a day long rain event with on and off activity from sunrise to sunset, extending through the overnight hours into Monday. Still keep your outdoor plans for the weekend, just plan around the passing showers and a more humid airmass compared to Thursday or Friday. Temps will be the only silver lining, warming to the upper 70's - low 80's across the valleys, while the higher elevations above 4500' enjoy temps in the upper 60's - low 70's. Overnight lows will level out to the upper 50's - low 60' each night.

We'll only mention that early next week is not looking great as shower activity will not only continue but peak in coverage, with all of SW NC experiencing rain Monday. We'll stop here and circle back on Friday with more details about the weekend and a better breakdown for the Monday - Tuesday timeframe. ENJOY!