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.
We’re back in the saddle here at @chswx HQ and looking at a quiet Friday before conditions turn unsettled once again this weekend as the front that’s helped to bring us today’s rain starts to wobble back northward.
After completing what should go down as the second-driest April on record (only by virtue of measurable rainfall over the past two days), we will get May off to a more unsettled start with some much-needed rain followed by a cool but sunny Sunday. We will also need to keep an eye on tides for possible coastal flooding concerns into the weekend.
After one more mostly sunny and dry day Friday, the pattern finally turns a little more unsettled starting Saturday as a cold front advances toward the area. This front will help stir up some showers and maybe some thunderstorms later Saturday into Sunday. Rainfall amounts will generally be light — a quarter-inch may be awfully generous from this setup — but everything helps.
Temperatures Friday and Saturday run in the mid-to-upper 80s in the afternoons after starting in the upper 50s Friday and the low-to-mid-60s on Saturday. From there, a backdoor cold front looks to sink southward across the area on Sunday, which will take temperatures down a few degrees with highs in the low-to-mid-80s expected. With the exception of Monday, though, generally expect warmer-than-normal temperatures to close out April.
High pressure will remain in control on Thursday, keeping mostly sunny skies in place. It won’t be all sunshine, though, as smoke from nearby wildfires in Georgia drifts into the area, which could have negative impacts on air quality. An Air Quality Alert is in effect for the Lowcountry through Thursday evening as a result; people who have sensitivities to poor air quality should limit time outdoors. Temperatures will take another step up as southwesterly winds help pump in warmer air; expect lows in the mid-50s to warm to the mid-to-upper 80s in the afternoon.
