Upper 30's Sat/Sun Nights; Sunny this Wknd!
Good morning folks! Rainfall totals from yesterday's event seemed to have come in all at once as the front passed through the region later in the day, sparking a line of widespread moderate - heavy showers during the evening hours. The highest totals were along or near the TN line with 1.5 - 3" of rain reported, while the lower amounts were closer to the SC state with totals around 0.35 - 0.50". The top three totals were 3.62" at Deep Creek, 2.44" at Stecoah Gap, and 1.93" at Davy Mtn. A few showers will pepper the TN line this morning but clouds will gradually clear the region as the day moves along, although it may take till the mid afternoon hours for mostly sunny skies to make an appearance (a slight change from the previous discussion). Sunshine and cooler temps take over on Sunday, which is a change from our previous thinking but this is for the better as we all could use a nice spring like day as we approach the month of June. Sunshine carries over into Monday and southerly flow ramps up, alongside a building ridge that will allow temps to climb roughly 8 - 12 degrees over Sunday, peaking to the low - mid 80's across the valleys. Tuesday features a slight uptick in high cloud cover as moisture levels increase across the Southeast, culminating on Wednesday with pop up showers and thunderstorms, alongside mostly cloudy skies after midday. Shower coverage is expected to increase as the week progresses, starting on Wednesday and peaking on Friday or Saturday with widespread rainfall across the mountains. This is not set in stone as several pieces must line up but the overall pattern points to a possible wet end to the work week, likely spilling over into next weekend.
The Memorial Day weekend will be almost perfect across the region as we lose cloud cover and rain chances dry up after midday today (Saturday), setting the stage for a sunny Sunday and Memorial Day (Monday). Overnight lows may be the talk of the town the next few days but afternoon highs will also hold to below normal levels, at least for Saturday and Sunday. Temps today reach the low 70's across the valleys, while the highest ridgelines struggle to climb out of the mid - upper 50's. Overnight lows bottom out to the upper 30's - mid 40's depending upon elevation tonight (under mostly clear skies), rebounding to the mid 70's Sunday afternoon. Temps return to the upper 30's - mid 40's Sunday night under another round of clear skies and this short lived cool down will come to an end Monday, as temps climb back to the low 80's across the valley floor; upper 60's above 5500'. Overnight lows level off to the low - upper 50's Monday night under partly cloudy skies.
Clouds increase on Tuesday with temps holding to the low 80's across the lower elevations, settling into the low - upper 50's once again Tuesday night, although this time mostly cloudy skies will be overhead.
High and mid level clouds will start the day on Wednesday, followed by pop up showers and a few thunderstorms closer to the mid afternoon hours, waning to isolated coverage overnight into Thursday. Temps are likely to reach the upper 70's and possibly the low 80's if cloud cover is not as widespread as expected.
Shower coverage may increase on Thursday and all signs point to widespread coverage Friday into Saturday but we caution putting any stock into the forecast this far out as the details will certainly change from today through the middle of next week. We'll stop here and circle back on Memorial Day with more details for the latter half of the work week. ENJOY!