We’re back in the 90s on Thursday as we get a brief lull in between disturbances, but showers and thunderstorms will return in the afternoon and evening as a slug of moisture from what we expect will be the remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur, which was christened earlier today, There will be a risk for a storm or two to produce some damaging wind gusts, but the overall severe weather threat this far to the east is fairly marginal. Will keep an eye out, though.
High pressure remains in control across the area, limiting afternoon thunderstorms and allowing heat to continue to build on Thursday. We’ll start in the mid-70s, warming to the mid-90s in the afternoon. Mix in dewpoints in the low-to-mid-70s and that will yield heat indices approaching or even slightly exceeding 100°. And while a brief popup sbower is never fully out of the question this time of year, the vast majority of us will stay rain-free.
High pressure at the surface and aloft will remain the primary weather driver for Friday and the weekend, with a bit more in the way of heat returning to the area starting Friday. Temperatures Friday start around 60°, warming to around 90° in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies. Dewpoints will remain generally in the 50s before the seabreeze pushes in a little more humid air from the Atlantic later in the day, but even then, they’ll only run in the low 60s with cooling temperatures behind them. It will be one of those rare days where the heat index may actually run slightly cooler than the actual air temperature, in fact, as the relatively dry air will allow sweat to do its thing.
Another comfortably warm day lies ahead for Thursday as high pressure at the surface and aloft remain the dominant weather features. Temperatures will once again start well on the cool side of normal for this time of year, bottoming out in the upper 50s away from the coast. We’ll warm to the mid-80s in the afternoon, but low-50s dewpoints will help not to make it feel terribly uncomfortable.
A cold front pushing southward overnight will stall out to our southwest, pushing some drier air into the area in the meantime and cooling things off a few degrees compared to the past few days. Friday still starts in the low 70s, but still a few degrees cooler than Thursday. Temperatures will head to the mid-80s in the afternoon with a few showers or storms possible midday, but otherwise, expect a quieter weather day compared to Thursday’s rambunctious thunderstorms which brought some much-needed rain to the Highway 17 corridor and points east.
Heat peaks Thursday before scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms fire along the seabreeze in the afternoon. From there, a cold front sags southward across the area, and keeps shower and storm chances going through Thursday night. We’ll start the day on the warm side with lows in the mid-70s. More westerly winds will keep things a bit drier to start the day, but these winds will help enhance convergence along the seabreeze for those aforementioned showers and thunderstorms as we get into the afternoon. Before thunderstorms begin to disrupt the temperature curve, highs will peak in the low 90s, and heat indices will easily run in the mid-90s, perhaps getting closer to 100° than we’d like in the Highway 17 corridor.
Severe thunderstorms aren’t expected, but some gusty winds can’t be ruled out. There’s plenty of available moisture for a lot of rain to fall in a short period in a few spots, too, but not everyone will see a downpour. However, it seems probable that most of us should be able to measure precipitation by Friday morning.
It’s a very summer-like look to the forecast this Memorial Day Weekend as the Lowcountry sits on the fringes of Atlantic high pressure. The pattern is largely stagnant as evidenced by the copy & paste temperatures for the next few days: lows in the low to mid-70s, highs in the upper 80s to near 90°.
After another day in the upper 80s on Wednesday — just missing 90° by a couple degrees at the airport — we should turn even a little warmer for Thursday with plenty of sunshine to be had. It’ll be a bit of a balmy day in general as lows in the upper 60s warm to the low 90s in the afternoon. Mid-60s dewpoints will keep the heat index in check, though it may feel a tick or two warmer than the air temperature.
Generally quiet weather will continue for Friday and the weekend with high pressure in control. If you liked Thursday’s weather, we have more of that comfortable warmth in store for Friday. We’ll start the day a bit below normal — generally mid-50s — and warm to the low 80s in the afternoon.
A cold front will swing through early Thursday with high pressure to build in behind it. Temperatures will start in the low 60s, warming to the low-to-mid-80s in the afternoon with northwesterly winds around 10 MPH. The downslope flow will dry out the atmosphere pretty nicely, allowing for mostly sunny skies with maybe a few fair weather clouds. The drier air will make the 80s highs feel a little more comfortable, too. Overall, it’s a good day to try to get some sunshine in the midst of the daily grind.
