Tuesday evening update: It’s another day with hazy sunshine as smoke from Canadian wildfires pushes into the area. Other than that, things look good for the Augusta GreenJackets game tonight! Temps will be in the low to mid 80s with some passing clouds.
Get those umbrellas ready, because our chances of rain are really ramping up starting Wednesday! A developing low pressure along the Atlantic coast will move onshore, bringing rain and storms to the area. While we might see some embedded thunderstorms, the good news is that widespread cloud cover should keep instability in check, so the risk of severe storms is low. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is even giving this low a low (10%) chance of developing into a tropical or subtropical system in the next 5-7 days. Regardless of whether it develops or not, we will be seeing the same impacts.
The rain chances will continue into Thursday as the system tracks northeast. Rainfall totals will range from half an inch to 2 inches. Can’t rule out some spots closer to three inches. Thankfully, severe weather is not expected. However, there will be breezy conditions with gusts up to around 30 mph.
Temperatures on both Wednesday and Thursday will be cooler due to the cloud cover and rain, generally in the upper 70s to low 80s.
Our attention then turns towards the Mississippi Valley as we head into the weekend, as a frontal boundary will slowly sag southward, entering our area by Saturday and persisting through the weekend. With the warm and moist airmass in place, more scattered rain and storm chances are expected. One thing we’ll be keeping a close eye on is the potential for severe weather. With disturbances pass through interacting the the front, it could result in enhanced storm coverage and intensity. There is already a slight risk for areas to our west (Mississippi and Alabama) for this potential. At this time, no widespread severe weather is currently forecast directly for our region, but we will certainly monitor it going forward. Additionally, with plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, locally heavy rainfall will also be possible.
Highs will be climbing to the upper 80s to low 90s Friday through the weekend. We continue to experience temperatures right around average next week. Overnight lows will remain mild, ranging from the 60s to low 70s.
