Today - Friday - started off in Mecklenburg county with temperatures in the mid-50s under cloudy skies. This visible satellite animation shows the situation:
Note the lower clouds across Virginia that don't seem to be moving. That is a manifestation of yet another cold air damming wedge. This setup is courtesy of clockwise air flow around high pressure atop New England along with counterclockwise flow around a large low pressure over the Atlantic east of Cape Hatteras. That combination is pushing cool damp air westward into the Old Dominion from off the Atlantic waters.
Given the stubborn nature of these shallow air masses today's forecast high temperatures are somewhat in doubt. With those cool easterly winds and under mostly cloudy skies this afternoon's local thermometer readings will only top out in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees. Showers and even a few thunderstorms are possible during the afternoon and evening hours as the next weather system approaches from the west.
Tonight, low pressure along an approaching cold front will cross North Carolina. Forecast models disagree somewhat, but rain totals in Mecklenburg county gauges look to be in the quarter to half-inch range by Saturday morning. As that cold front pushes east of the region Saturday will feature clearing skies after lunch, with afternoon temperatures topping out in the low 70s.
On Sunday that cold front will have stalled along the Southeast U.S. coastline, with another surface low pressure forming along it. That will keep skies cloudy, with a chance of more showers during the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will begin the day in the mid-40s and only climb to the low 60s for daily highs. That's more than ten degrees below the average for the date!
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