Low 90's and Sunshine Wed & Thur

Good morning folks! The front has arrived and is draped across the Carolinas, barely moving and likely to dissipate as we move through the overnight hours into Wednesday. Monday brought us several strong showers and thunderstorms, with many sites picking up an inch of rain and today (Tuesday) we'll experience another round of heavy rainfall, with showers fizzling out late this evening. A strong upper level ridge will migrate slightly east Wednesday and Thursday, edging into the Carolinas, and this will translate to hot and sunny conditions both days. Temps are likely to reach the low 90's across the lower elevations, while the higher elevations above 5000' sit comfortably in the mid - upper 70's. A second front is expected to nudge into the area from the north on Friday as the upper level ridge pushes back toward the west, while an upper level trough expands across the Northeast. This will trigger pop up showers on Friday with temps holding to the low 90's, followed by a steady uptick in shower coverage as we move through the weekend, peaking on Monday as a third front enters the picture. Temps may return to average levels Sunday (mid 80's) and perhaps bottom out to the low 80's early next week if regionwide rainfall pans out as forecasted.

We'll kick off the timeline on Wednesday and throw Thursday into the same conversation as it seems to be a carbon copy of Wednesday. Both days will experience temps in the low 90's across the valleys throughout SW NC, with a few highly paved/downtown locations possibly hitting 94°F. As always, you can escape the heat by climbing above 5000' where temps will be in the mid - upper 70's. Mostly sunny skies will dominate the landscape, but we'll still notice a few clouds develop along the highest (5500' +) ridgelines closer to sunset. NW flow controls the pattern through Thursday night, with overnight lows settling into the low - mid 60's both nights; mostly clear skies with little morning fog.

A front enters the region Friday morning but seems to stall and hang around most of the weekend, setting the stage for pop up showers to return Friday into Sunday. Isolated showers are likely Friday afternoon with a mixed bag of sunshine and cloud cover, followed by scattered shower coverage Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Temps reach the mid 70's - low 90's once again Friday, but level out to the upper 60's - mid 80's by Sunday. We'll enjoy a mixed bag of sun and clouds again on Saturday, whereas Sunday is likely to produce high, thin clouds after midday. Overnight lows return to the mid 50's - low 60's both Saturday and Sunday nights; partly - mostly cloudy skies with morning fog.

Early next week looks promising for a regionwide rainfall as a third front enters the region but as always, anything past 4 - 5 days and our confidence level drops like a rock. For now we will mention the possibility and keep our fingers crossed afternoon high temps return to the low 80's. Stay cool out there Wednesday and Thursday!