Several Inches of Rain Expected this Week
Good afternoon folks! The rest of the week is coming into focus now that Hurricane Sally's track is being ironed out. We'll enjoy a short lived break from the rain Tuesday and most of the day on Wednesday, with widespread, heavy rainfall moving into the region starting late Wednesday night. All of SW NC will pick up 1 - 2" Thursday into Friday evening, with upwards of 3" along the SC state line as the remnants of Sally move across the Deep South. What is left of Sally will be crossing our region Friday, exiting Saturday as a cold front pushes into the area, setting the stage for gorgeous fall-like weather this weekend. Before the fair and cool weather moves in, we'll experience another round of rain Friday into Saturday morning, bringing the weekly rainfall totals to 2 - 3" for the interior portions of SW NC, maxing out to 5" or slightly higher along the escarpment. It'll be worth it because what follows is absolutely perfect for those who enjoy fall-like conditions.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be fairly quiet across the region with only isolated showers developing each afternoon. There will be more sun than clouds on Tuesday and for the first half of the day Wednesday, however by sunset we'll all be under mostly cloudy skies and shower coverage will begin to expand from the southwest as remnants of Sally move northwest. Temps will be comfortable for mid September, warming to mid 60's - mid 70's Tuesday and mid 60's - low 70's Wednesday as cloud cover increases. Overnight lows settle into the low - upper 50's Tuesday night but warm to the mid 50's - low 60's Wednesday night as showers move into the area.
Thursday is likely to be a washout, with widespread shower activity across SW NC from sunrise to sunset. Coverage may wind down down slightly overnight into Friday but will return to widespread coverage early Friday afternoon and wind down all together sometime during the pre dawn hours on Saturday. This timeline is not set in stone but the projected track of Sally will bring us 1 - 3" depending upon location Thursday into Friday morning, with another 1 - 2" Friday into early Saturday morning; higher amounts closer to SC, lesser amounts closer to TN. Temps only warm to the upper 60's - low 70's across the lower elevations both days, with overnight lows holding to the low 60's Thursday night but dropping to the upper 40's - mid 50's Friday night.
Sunshine, low dewpoints, and cooler temps are in the forecast for the weekend with highs in the low 70's for the valley and upper 50's above 5000'!!! Overnight lows will be the biggest thing we notice each morning as they drop into the low - upper 40's each night! Perfect weather to get outside.
We'll stop here and circle back on Wednesday.