Soaking Rain Monday; Low 60's Tuesday?!?

Good afternoon folks! Sunny skies today and Sunday sure have setup a gorgeous late January weekend, with temps warming to the upper 40's - mid 50's across the lower elevations each afternoon. We'll experience a healthy temperature inversion tonight as high pressure settles across the Carolinas, with the valleys dipping into the low - mid 20's, while the ridgelines sit in the low 30's; all under clear skies. Sunshine spills over into Sunday and high clouds are expected to build by the late afternoon hours, thickening before midnight, followed by showers closer to sunrise on Monday. Regionwide rainfall occurs Monday with most of the region picking up one inch, while the Nantahala and Snowbird Mountains, including the Southern Highlands Plateau, hit the 2" mark as overall flow will be out of the southwest. The front passes through the region Monday night and upper level ridging brings sunshine back to the region on Tuesday with temps likely to hit the 60°F mark across the valleys! A second warm front will approach the region on Wednesday, building clouds across the area and precip is expected to break out later in the day, with precip continuing overnight into Thursday. Its possible snow falls overnight into Thursday for the higher elevations and sometime Thursday morning a transition to NW flow snowfall occurs, with temps dropping roughly 12 - 16 degrees compared to Tuesday.

After a crisp and frosty start to the day on Sunday, mostly sunny skies will bring temps to the low 40's - mid 50's depending upon elevation. High clouds build across the region before sunset and mostly cloudy skies will be overhead by the late evening hours, helping to cap overnight lows to the upper 30's - low 40's across the region. A cold rain breaks out overnight and continues into Monday, peaking in coverage and intensities during the late evening hours, with all precip winding down sometime before the early - mid morning hours on Tuesday. Temps Monday will be rather warm because of the overall flow out of the southwest as they reach the upper 40's - upper 50's across the region. Overnight lows only make it to the mid - upper 40's Monday night with showers continuing past midnight, but for the most part the event will be winding down as we approach sunrise. Rainfall totals around one inch is a good bet for all of SW NC and 2" is possible along the N GA and SC state lines, specifically for locations nearby or within the Nantahala and Snowbird Mountains, as well as the Southern Highlands Plateau.

Sunshine returns Tuesday with spring like temps as they hit the upper 50's - low 60's across the valleys, followed by overnight lows in the low - upper 30's overnight into Wednesday under partly cloudy skies.

Clouds develop throughout the day on Wednesday and temps will climb to the mid 40's - mid 50's across the region, followed by a rain and snow mix overnight into Thursday. This wintry possibility is not set in stone and we are still several days out from having enough confidence to say for certain whether it will snow or not. The latest trends do not look great for our neck of the woods, with our best chance for snow on the backend of the system as it transitions to NW flow on Thursday.

However the Wednesday night - Thursday event plays out, we should experience sunshine next Friday. We'll stop here and circle back Monday morning with a detailed breakdown of the mid week event.