Springtime Temps Return

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Chilly weather tonight as mostly clear skies underneath high pressure allow temperatures to drop into the mid-30s.

High pressure to the south will move offshore to end the week and will promote southwesterly winds to quickly return under increasing heights aloft. This will bring a return to temperatures in the 60s tomorrow afternoon and set the stage for a warm start to the weekend as well. At the same time, a weak piece of energy will cross the Appalachians Friday night into Saturday, bringing some shower chances to the area tomorrow night into early Saturday. The energy will likely be moisture-starved, leading to continued dry weather for most. High pressure will bring a return of at least some sunshine to start the weekend, with temperatures reaching into the upper 60s.

A positively tilted shortwave will skirt the Gulf Coast on Sunday, but locally high pressure will tend to shunt any precipitation with this feature to our south, continuing the dry weather. The GFS continues to suggest weaker high pressure locally will allow for a bit of rain Sunday, so this will have to be monitored, therefore, we introduced a slight chance for showers.

Early next week, the warmup will really be underway. Pronounced ridging in the East, combined with continued southwesterly flow, will spike highs near 70 on Monday under sunny skies. By the midweek, highs will reach the upper 70s both Tuesday and Wednesday, over 15 degrees above the historical average.

Eventually, a progressive shortwave will cross the area during the mid-to-late week time period, tanking highs a bit and bringing good consensus amongst models for precipitation to return by Thursday.

Have a great evening!

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