Scattered Showers Sunday; Muggy Monday
Good afternoon folks! We're now in a normal summertime setup with pop up afternoon showers the daily norm today (Saturday) through Monday, followed by a disturbance swinging through Monday night that should expand coverage to regionwide overnight into Tuesday morning. Scattered showers and thunderstorms reign supreme Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, with coverage increasing ever so slightly on Thursday and a second regionwide event sometime Friday afternoon/evening. Temps all the while go from the mid 80's today to the mid - upper 80's by the middle of the week, cooling back to the low 80's by Thursday as mostly cloudy skies and on/off showers take over the region. The first regionwide event Monday night features excessively high moisture levels translating to heavy downpours along the escarpment, while the second event is more of a frontal passage that will trigger showers across the area, with higher rates closer to the TN line.
We'll start the timeline on Sunday and shower coverage will increase compared to Saturday, with a mixed bag of clouds, sun, and pop up showers Sunday afternoon. Temps will warm to the upper 60's - mid 80's depending upon elevation and it will be muggy outside, however showers should fizzle out by the late evening hours. Overnight lows settle into the upper 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation, with isolated showers lingering along the escarpment.
Monday features a gradual uptick in moisture levels as the day moves along, culminating in scattered showers by the mid - late afternoon hours (better chance along the escarpment), followed by regionwide showers overnight into Monday. The disturbance swinging across the region from east to west will favor the Southern Highlands Plateau and higher totals will be found in Highlands - Cashiers - Lake Toxaway, with a noticeable drop in totals for the interior valley towns. Temps level out once again to the upper 60's - mid 80's depending upon elevation but remember it will be vey muggy and it will feel more like the upper 80's - low 90's at times. Overnight lows settle into the low - upper 60's as showers continue into the pre dawn hours on Tuesday.
Shower coverage winds down Tuesday morning only to fire back up later in the day as sun pokes through the broken cloud cover, with temps once again the mid 80's across the valleys. Wednesday will be similar to Tuesday (scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms) and by Thursday we expect more clouds than sun to be overhead, with widespread showers possible by the mid afternoon hours (pop up fashion). The models show a front moving into the region late Friday that should bring another round of widespread, uniform rain to the region later in the day but we are so too far out to have any confidence in this timeline. Temps cool down to the low 80's Thursday and Friday due to increased cloud cover and shower coverage.
We'll stop here and circle back on Monday morning, with a more detailed timeline for the Monday night event and a better look at the Friday event. ENJOY!