After a reasonably quiet Friday, shower and thunderstorm chances return to the forecast for the weekend, bringing with it a decent shot at some much-needed rain but also the risk for a strong storm or two on Saturday.

May Day will be a partly cloudy affair across the Lowcountry as Atlantic high pressure continues to exert influence over our weather. We’ll start near 60° away from the locally warmer coastline, warming to the mid-80s in the afternoon. It’ll be a bit breezy especially as the seabreeze gets by in the early afternoon, but otherwise no major concerns are expected.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures will persist for a couple more days before a front cools us off back to late April normals on Sunday.

A few more storms will be possible Thursday as the lingering stalled front hangs around a bit longer. This, combined with the seabreeze, keeps a slight chance for storms in the metro in play for a good bit of the day, though the rain chance should diminish as the seabreeze pushes further inland. Temperatures will still be on the warm side of normal, but cloud cover, storms, and onshore flow should keep highs suppressed to the low 80s.

Not much to write home about in the weather department as we head into Friday and Easter weekend as temperatures warm into the 80s and precipitation remains at bay for at least a few more days as high pressure continues to be the dominant weather feature.

Friday starts much warmer than Thursday did, with lows in the mid-to-upper 50s to start the day warming to around 80° in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies. We turn a few degrees warmer on Saturday before the temperature curve levels out a little bit on Easter Sunday as we start to see high pressure begin to slip away a bit ahead of a front. This will help cloud cover tick up across the area, though we will still have more than ample sunshine. Enjoy!

Above-normal temperatures return to the Lowcountry on Thursday as high pressure at the surface begins to head eastward. We’ll start the day in the upper 40s to around 50°, warming to near 80° in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies. I hope you get a chance to get out and about at some point because it should be another nice day!

Unsettled weather makes a brief return to the area overnight into Friday as a cold front works its way toward the coast. We’ll start the day on the mild — and perhaps the wet — side as temperatures bottom out just to around the mid-to-upper 50s. We’ll warm to the mid-70s in the afternoon with scattered showers and thunderstorms continuing to affect the area. Severe weather looks highly unlikely at this stage with meager instability, thankfully. Showers and thunderstorms will end by evening as the front moves by, setting the stage for a cool but quiet weekend.

High pressure to our north, which has kept a cooler onshore flow in place that limited highs to the low 70s today, will slip offshore for Thursday, and we turn a bit warmer as a result. Expect to start Thursday right around 50°, just a touch below April 10 normals, warming to the mid-70s in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. Should be a pleasant springtime day, all in all, especially if you like it a little warmer.

It will be a very warm Bridge Run weekend as deep-layered high pressure atop the Southeast, in a configuration more reminiscent of summer, hangs around for a few more days. We’re working on a record warm low temperature for Thursday — the low so far of 70° would blow past the previous record of 67° set in 2012 — with maybe a couple more to fall before the weekend is out.

Lows on Friday should only bottom out around 70°, which would tie the record warm low temperature last set in 1970. Highs would then soar to the upper 80s in the afternoon before the seabreeze moves through and cuts temperatures down a bit. Partly cloudy skies will be the general rule, while we stay breezy during the day owing to the pressure gradient between high pressure to the east and the stalled storm system to the west.

Atlantic high pressure at the surface and aloft will bring on progressively warmer weather as we hit Thursday and the rest of the Bridge Run weekend. We may set some record warm low temperatures during this stretch, starting with Thursday’s forecast low of 67°, which would tie the record warm low set in 2012. It’ll be a partly cloudy day, and the increasing influence of high pressure will keep any shower activity at bay (unlike what a few of us saw on Wednesday as a warm front lifted north). Temperatures will head to the mid-80s in the afternoon, which should get us right into some of the warmest air so far this year.