Tuesday looks fantastic by most objective measures — lows in the low 50s followed by mid-70s in the afternoon with plenty of sunshine. The only fly in the ointment remains the elevated wind gusts that will come along with peak heating in the afternoon thanks to deep mixing of the near-surface air that will tap into some elevated winds aloft. That’s about it, though — will be another pretty day with temperatures that at the end of this month I suspect we’ll wish we had back.
We should get a fair bit of Thursday in rain-free, but changes will be coming later in the day as low pressure to the west approaches the area. We start one more morning in the upper 50s before a warm front gradually lifts through the area throughout the day, which will bring dewpoints up in the afternoon and put a little mugginess in the air. A shower or storm along the seabreeze in the afternoon and early evening can’t be totally discounted, but the bulk of the rain arrives after dark with the aforementioned low pressure and will be around for much of the overnight.
We should get much of, if not all of, Tuesday in rain-free before the pattern changes to something more unsettled to finish up the work week. We start Tuesday in the mid-50s; cloud cover and continued northeast flow will inhibit temperatures from rising much higher than the mid-70s in the afternoon. Some of the higher-resolution guidance has some isolated to scattered showers breaking out later in the afternoon into the evening hours as high pressure loses its grip on the area, but not everyone will see rain.
No weather concerns for Sunday as the cold front has cleared the area, leaving behind a cooler and drier airmass that’ll be highly conducive for outdoor activities. We start the day in the low-to-mid-50s across the area (warmer near the coast). Northwesterly winds, which will have a downslope component from the mountains, will help drive temperatures to the upper 70s in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies. Winds will shift a little more southerly in the late afternoon/evening hours behind the seabreeze, which will nudge dewpoints up a bit, but it’ll still be very, very comfortable outside with low humidity. Enjoy!
One more predominantly sunny day is in store for Thursday as stacked high pressure remains in place across the Carolinas. We’ll start the day in the mid-50s, generally around normal for April 20, before warming into the mid-to-upper 80s in the afternoon, which is ten degrees above normal. Unfettered sunshine is expected once again, with very little, if any, in the way of cloud cover. It’ll be another great day to get outside for lunch or even a nice golden-hour dinner.
Tuesday will be one of those meteorologically brilliant days that will undoubtedly make all of us wish it was the weekend instead. We start the day in fairly crisp fashion with lows bottoming out in the upper 40s to around 50°. High pressure will sit atop the area, and this combined with a very dry airmass will keep the sky unmarred by cloud cover. Temperatures will respond nicely, warming about 30° to the low 80s in the afternoon. Winds will be a little lighter, starting out of the north and swinging around to the northwest, west, and finally south by sunset.
Sunday will not be rain-free, but it will not be a total loss, either, as a couple rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected — one in the morning, and then another late afternoon/early evening, with likely some dry time in the middle.
We will likely start the day with some showers in the area as temperatures bottom out in the low-to-mid-60s. These come on the heels of a decaying thunderstorm complex that, as of this writing, is moving over Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. This will pass by mid-morning, and we should see a stretch of reasonably quiet conditions before a cold front gets close to the area later in the afternoon/early evening hours. High temperatures should peak in the low 80s despite an uptick in cloud cover.
As the front approaches, a second round of scattered storms should fire, and a couple of those could be on the stronger side with damaging wind gusts the primary concern. Regardless, if you’re out and about and hear thunder, it’s time to find safe shelter indoors because all thunderstorms are dangerous due to the lightning they produce. This is especially critical for the later shows at High Water.
On balance, nobody will be socked in with rain all day, and some of you may not get any at all! That’s just how this works as we get into the later spring months, after all. The risk for showers and thunderstorms should end by mid-evening, with the front pushing offshore generally before midnight.
From here, beautiful weather ensues for much of the upcoming work week (as seems to be customary in 2023), with the next rain chances not for several days.
Showers return to the forecast later Thursday as high pressure slips offshore ahead of a low advancing northward out of the Gulf. We start dry and should get a good bit of the day in without rain, though. After starting in the mid-50s, highs will top out in the upper 70s as cloud cover increases ahead of showers. Expect the onset of rain roughly mid to late afternoon into the evening hours. It’ll be off and on, but could be briefly heavy at times. A little thunder can’t be ruled out, either. The best rain chances come after dark and persist into Friday.
Tuesday will be one of the better weather days we’ve had in a while around here, just an all-around gorgeous spring day. We’ll start the day in the mid-to-upper 40s and warm nicely into the low 70s in the afternoon under sunny skies. Dewpoints around 40° will yield a really comfortable day, too — not too dry, not too humid. Yes, it’s a workday, but with some of y’all on spring break, I hope you get to take advantage of this! Before you know it, we’ll be sweating buckets by merely stepping outdoors.
After a chilly, raw day across the area in which we tied the record cold high temperature, the rain comes to an end Sunday morning and we begin to dry out. Cloud cover will hang tough for much of the day, though we should get some peeks of sun late. One of the main weather stories for this Easter Sunday will be the continued chill; high pressure continuing to wedge into the area will keep highs in the mid-50s after starting in the mid-40s. If the NWS forecast high of 57° verifies, it’d be the second consecutive day tying a record cold high temperature.
The second weather story of the day will be the gusty northeast winds and the potential for major coastal flooding with the late night high tide. Winds will be brisk, sustained 15-20 MPH with gusts approaching 30 MPH at times, with even higher gusts possible at the coast and on the higher bridges. The persistent northeasterly wind will also drive tidal departures up over 2′, potentially pushing the 11:04 PM high tide up to around 8′, which is major coastal flooding territory. Fortunately, we’ll be done with the rain, and that will keep the flooding issues confined largely to tidal areas. Still, numerous road closures are possible late Sunday, and you’ll want to keep that in mind if you have late-day travel plans around downtown.
