Summertime Conditions Return
Good morning folks! Southeast flow is in full effect this morning with light - moderate showers peppering the Southern Highlands Plateau (Highlands - Cashiers - Lake Toxaway), while the interior towns like Cullowhee, Sylva, Bryson City, and so on remain bone dry. We'll continue to see a mixed bag of sun and clouds today (Thursday), with a few showers along the escarpment and as moisture continues to build from the Atlantic today into Friday, shower chances and coverage will increase starting Friday. We do not expect a washout but instead a return to a normal summertime setup with higher dewpoints than today, a mixed bag of clouds and sun before noon and then pop up showers from the mid - late afternoon hours. Shower chances increase with each passing day Friday into Sunday, leveling out on Sunday to scattered coverage levels, holding steady through early next week. If you have outdoor plans, keep them, but also keep in mind that showers are likely to pop up and should migrate out of the area shortly thereafter; nothing but a 10 - 20 minute rain delay at times. Temps will adjust to the new setup, warming to the low - mid 80's Friday through Tuesday for the lower elevations and with the uptick in moisture levels, overnight lows will only be able to settle into the low - mid 60's across the valleys each night. All in all, not a bad setup for late June and even though you may not be a fan of muggy/showery conditions, it sure beats a drought and we'll take every drop we can get to keep the drought at bay.
Kicking off the timeline on Friday, most of us will wake up to valley fog under partly cloudy skies, however the escarpment is likely to see more cloud cover than the interior portions of SW NC due to continuing upslope flow. In fact, this should be the name of the game all weekend and into early next week for Highlands, Cashiers, Lake Toxaway and areas nearby, so don't be disheartened if you lose the sun while out on the water, at least the temps will be warm! Pop up showers develop after midday on Friday, while temps push into the upper 60's - low 80's depending upon elevation. Showers will fizzle out overnight into Saturday under partly cloudy skies and lows will settle into the mid 50's - low 60's across the region.
Saturday and Sunday are similar enough to lump together, with a slightly better chance for showers on Sunday compared to Saturday. Both days feature temps in the mid 80's across the valleys and there is likely to be a touch more sunshine overhead on Saturday compared to Sunday, especially for the central valleys of Graham, Clay, Cherokee, Macon, and Jackson counties. Overnight lows begin to level out to the upper 50's - mid 60's depending upon elevation, with mostly cloudy skies overhead Sunday night compared to partly cloudy skies Saturday night.
Monday through Wednesday of next week is far enough out that this is not a guarantee but the pattern should translate to more clouds than sun (we'll still enjoy periods of full sun) sitting overhead, scattered shower coverage for all of SW NC (some will get wet, other will not) and temps in the mid 80's across the lower elevations.
We'll stop here and circle back late Saturday morning with a new discussion. ENJOY!