Quiet through Wed; Two New Stations!
Good morning folks! After a calm but still exciting Saturday (congrats to the Cats for winning their 3rd football game in a row), we'll wind down the weekend on a sunny and quiet note as high pressure moves over the region. High pressure and upper level ridging will lead to a stretch of sunny days, ending sometime Thursday morning as the pattern shifts with an incoming upper level trough later in the week. We'll experience chilly mornings in the 30's and afternoons in the 70's, making for a wild diurnal temperature swing each day Monday through Wednesday. In fact, the valleys will be 5 - 8 degrees colder on average each morning Monday through Wednesday, with temps at or below freezing across the lower elevations during this window. The pattern shifts late Wednesday, taking most of the day Thursday to unfold, with showers returning to the region Thursday afternoon, extending through Saturday, possibly ending before next Sunday. There is still a good deal of uncertainty as to how much rain and for how long, but the pattern will be wet as we close out the work and school week.
Kicking off the timeline Monday morning with temps in the upper 20's - low 30's for the valleys, while the ridgelines hold to the mid - upper 30's. Clouds will clear the region before midday and sunny skies will bring temps to the low 70's across the valleys, while locations above 5500' reach the upper 50's. Clear skies bring temps down to the low 30's along the valley floor, while the ridgelines settle into the upper 30's - low40's.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be repeats of Monday, with temps a degree or two warmer and for the middle of November, the average high for the lower elevations is 63°F, so this is roughly 8 - 10 degrees warmer than average.
Cloud cover begins to build late Wednesday night and mostly cloudy skies are likely by midday Thursday, capping temps to the low 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation. Timeline after Wednesday becomes fuzzy but for now we are going with scattered showers developing Thursday afternoon, with on and off rounds of rain (heavy at times) through Saturday morning. Temps Friday and Saturday should be cooler than Thursday, possibly as cold as the upper 30's - low 50's as currently modeled. Take this with a grain of salt and circle back Tuesday morning as we will have a firm grip on the timeline by then, being roughly 36 - 48 hours from the event. ENJOY!
Forecast aside, we are excited to announce the addition of two new stations to the website this past week! If you are familiar with the Ingles in Cashiers, we installed a station on Big Sheep Cliff at 4661', the higher of the two mountains directly behind Ingles. The second station was installed at 5694', the highest in our network, just a few hundred feet below Mt Lyn Lowry along the Plott Balsams in Northern Jackson/Haywood County, hence the station name.
Thank you very much to two individuals who enjoy the weather as much as we do and are willing to share their data with us. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or hosting a station at your location, please reach out via email at pj@mtnwx.com.