No complaints about this weekend’s weather: Solid late-spring fare for the Lowcountry, with low humidity, a chill in the air to start each morning, and comfortably warm temperatures each afternoon under plenty of sunshine with just some fair weather cumulus at times providing a little natural shade. (Mom will love it.)
If I had to pick a day out of the three for the best weather, I’d say Saturday is probably it for its wide spectrum of temperatures, low humidity, and relatively calm winds. Friday and Sunday look to be a bit on the breezy side with high pressure building on Friday and beginning to depart on Sunday.
We’ll need to monitor weather conditions for enhanced fire danger over the next few days as we still remain abnormally dry. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect for Friday due to very low humidity and winds gusting up to 30 MPH at times, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see fire danger remain elevated into Sunday before our next rain chances arrive Monday. Please don’t burn outdoors as flames could quickly get out of hand. Otherwise, though, enjoy a nice weekend!
Friday will start out as another chilly morning as temperatures will dip into the low 40s. Frost should not be a concern in our neck of the woods, though, so no worries for your gardens. Temperatures will top out around 70-71° with cloud cover on the increase ahead of our next storm system. Note that fire danger remains high on Friday given continued dry conditions and low humidity.
Saturday will bring beneficial rain to the area, but it may bring some stronger thunderstorms as well. Showers will be possible on Saturday morning, but the best chance for heavier rain and thunderstorms arrives in the afternoon into the evening hours. NWS estimates rainfall amounts around 1-2″, which would be hugely helpful as long as we don’t get it all at one time. Temperatures look to top out in the mid-70s barring more rainfall earlier in the day. Regardless of thunderstorms, winds should be fairly breezy with gusts perhaps near 35-40 MPH at times.
The severe weather threat for Saturday will largely be modulated by how unstable the atmosphere can get. Wind shear will be plentiful thanks to a strengthening low-level jet and favorable upper-level winds, so that ingredient will certainly be there, and there is general model agreement that moisture will surge into the area later Saturday, which may contribute to further destabilization. A lot will depend on how warm we can get during the day — if rain fires up and sticks around, which is certainly possible, then that takes the severe threat down a peg or two (but doesn’t completely eliminate it given the aforementioned favorable wind shear). If it doesn’t, though, there will be fuel available for the storms by the time they get here, and with the expected shear in place, a few severe storms will be expected. Damaging winds and hail will be the primary concerns, but given the favorable vertical wind profiles, a tornado cannot be ruled out.
All this nastiness clears the area overnight Saturday as a front sweeps through, and by Sunday, we will have a much nicer day with clouds gradually breaking down and temperatures rising into the mid-to-upper 70s. It’ll remain windy throughout the day in the wake of the front as high pressure builds in behind it, but otherwise, there are no weather concerns for Sunday into much of next week as our fairly arid April rolls on.
A cold front has gotten through the area this evening, and temperatures are on their way down in its wake. By morning, we’ll be bottoming out in the mid-40s, and you’ll be excused if you’re not quite sure whether it’s late April or not. Despite unencumbered sunshine, temperatures will only reach the mid-60s as chilly high pressure builds in overhead. The April sun angle should still make short sleeves reasonably comfortable, though.
A cold front will be moving through tonight, bringing some cooler air to the area as the front settles south and then stalls out. Cooler, drier air should win out on Friday, keeping us rain-free but only in the low 70s. Waves of low pressure along the front reintroduce rain chances for Saturday, with periods of showers expected through the evening. Depending on how Saturday plays out, we should see a rain-free Sunday with temperatures warming back up a little closer to normal.
Exact timing of any rain on Saturday is going to be difficult to pin down even tomorrow. A lot depends on how showers and thunderstorms transpire along the Gulf Coast during the day Friday into early Saturday. A couple of the variables forecasters will be taking into consideration includes whether moisture transport this far up is disrupted due to thunderstorm activity further south of us as well as how far north the frontal boundary can meander. It’s a tricky one — stay tuned. Indoor backup plans are a good idea for Saturday — we’ll just need radar and sharp attention to observations to determine when you’ll need to enact them.
Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and our stretch of great weather is no exception. We’ll begin to see scattered storm chances enter the weather picture later in the afternoon on Friday and stick around into the weekend as a more moisture-laden airmass takes residence. Temperatures will remain fairly warm each day, with 60s in the morning and highs within a couple degrees either way of 80° in the afternoons.
The good news on the rain chances this weekend is that it doesn’t look like we have a total weekend washout in store. Rain chances will be transient and largely driven day-to-day. My best advice is to plan out your weekend as is, and just ensure that you have indoor activities as a backup. I’d pencil in Saturday as probably the less active of the two weekend days, with decent model agreement that a cold front will be driving through the area Sunday, but we’ll want to take this day by day as things evolve upstream.
So far, it doesn’t look like we’ll have any severe weather concerns this weekend, but be reminded that all thunderstorms are dangerous because of lightning.
All in all, this weekend will be good practice for planning outdoor activities during the summer months! Stay dry and safe and do your best to enjoy!
Get ready for what is probably Winter’s final hurrah starting tonight into this weekend. Overnight tonight, temperatures look to fall to the mid-30s in the Charleston Metro Area, with the potential for those temperatures to fall even a bit more inland. I’d protect plants and pets tonight to be on the safe side. Wind chills tomorrow morning will run as low as the mid-20s at times — bone-chilling for January, somewhat absurd for April. In addition to possibly setting a record low in the morning (the record is 36° set in 1942), Friday’s forecast high of 54° would break the record low maximum temperature of 56° set in 2019. All this and we will have full, unfettered sunshine throughout the day. Quite a potently cold airmass, for sure.
The chill continues into Saturday morning. Winds look to back off a little bit, but that may just allow for better radiational cooling conditions with the potential for a freeze inland from the coast and patchy frost elsewhere. Friday night into Saturday morning will be another time to protect your plants and pets from the chilly conditions. Saturday afternoon does look a little warmer with highs getting into the low 60s, but this is still well below normal for early April.
By Sunday, though, we begin to lift out of the cold snap with lows in the low 40s in the morning, followed by highs getting back into the 70s in the afternoon. Just a few clouds will be around, and it looks to be a rather pleasant day.
It was a busy weather evening, with numerous reports of hail inland from the coast, a lot of lightning, and a lot of heavy rain. The storms will give way to a cold front swinging through overnight, and by Thursday morning, we will begin to see quite a cooldown. We’ll go from a high of 82° on Wednesday to highs struggling into the mid-60s for Thursday. (No fooling.) It’ll be breezy in the wake of the front, too. However, the sun will be out, and the early April sun angle will feel pretty good when balanced with the cooler air temperatures.
This weekend is going to have quite a summer-like feel to it with highs in the 80s and a slight chance of showers and storms each afternoon.
A cold front will be weakening and stalling out across the area Friday into Saturday. The front, a remnant of the strong storm system that is responsible for a severe weather outbreak in the mid-South today, will not be able to overcome the ridging aloft and strong surface high pressure. However, a few storms will be possible on Friday with the potential for one or two of them to produce damaging wind gusts and large hail. Widespread severe weather is not anticipated, though.
Getting into Saturday, we see the stalled front still in the area, perhaps acting as a focal point to kick off a few showers or storms. Otherwise, the story will be the warmth — lows in the mid-60s will continue to flirt with record high minimums, and highs in the low to mid-80s appear common, with potentially higher temperatures inland.
Another cold front will backdoor into the area from the north on Sunday. A few showers and thunderstorms will once again be possible ahead of said front, and a couple of those might err on the strong side, but once again widespread severe weather does not appear to be in the cards. This front will actually make it through the area, though, and by Monday, temperatures will be 10-15° cooler as high pressure wedges in from the northeast.
We’ll get Friday off to a nice start in the wake of the cold front which instigated a lot of the rough weather over the last couple days in the eastern half of the country. Temperatures will start around 50-51° under mostly clear skies. We’ll warm to the mid-60s before another cold front “backdoors” in from the north, bringing much cooler temperatures and a return to cloud cover.
Yes, folks…the wedge is back.
Saturday will start out much cooler than normal, with highs in the upper 30s. Temperatures will only head up to the mid-50s as the wedge settles in. At the same time, a low will spin up off the Florida and Georgia coast. Convergence on the northern half of the low could help spread a few showers into the area as early as Saturday, but slightly better rain chances arrive on Sunday as the low heads northeast, coming a little bit closer to our coastline. Sunday looks a bit warmer with highs near 60° as the wedge seems to weaken a little bit. Don’t fret — we’re back in the 70s by next Tuesday.
Warm and dry weather will continue into the weekend, with temperatures remaining well above normal until a cold front backdoors into the area Monday and introduces some rain chances. Until then, though, while we will see a slow increase in clouds, expect mid-to-upper 70s away from the locally cooler coastline.
Don’t forget: Early Sunday morning, we “spring forward” into Daylight Saving Time. Be sure to set your manually-set clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. It’s also a good time to check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, not to mention your weather radio!
