Steve signing in at 6:39 AM. Partly to mostly cloudy skies this morning across the four county area with temperatures ranging from the low 50s in the higher elevations to the upper 50s along the I-40 corridor. Burke Weather HQ in Valdese reports 58° with overcast conditions. There could be some patchy fog in the next hour or two but otherwise clouds burn off and today should be mostly sunny with highs around 80°. We may see the return of some fog Tuesday morning but overall Tuesday should be a mostly to partly sunny day. It will be a bit warmer and more humid. Scattered showers and storms build in the mountains Tuesday afternoon with a few storms straying into the I-40 corridor by evening, highs in the mid 80s. Wednesday may be mainly dry as there is not much of a trigger for thunderstorm development except for the heat and humidity. Highs Wednesday should be close to 90°. An area of organized thunderstorms is expected to develop over the lower Ohio Valley Wednesday afternoon and possibly make a run at us overnight Wednesday. I do see a spike in instability late Wednesday night along with some westerly or northwesterly wind shear. However these storms may break up before or as they reach the mountains so right now it looks like we could see a couple isolated thunderstorms overnight Wednesday, possibly with gusty winds and frequent lightning. Thursday is the day to watch. A stronger front from the north moves into western North Carolina during the day. The timing of this front is still uncertain but I think it will drop southward through the I-40 corridor by mid afternoon or possibly later. Depending on how much rain we get overnight Wednesday (which may not be much) and the exact timing of this front, we could be looking at severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon into early evening. The main threats look like large hail and damaging wind. The front continues to drift southward Thursday night settling somewhere over South Carolina on Friday. Thus we still have the chance for scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms into the first half of the weekend with slightly cooler temperatures back in the mid 80s instead of near 90°.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 10:55:07 +0000