Sweatshirts to shorts and back again: May 2026

The weather the first couple weeks of this month seemed like it would never warm to spring-like levels. Then the 90s showed up as an uninvited guest last week, bringing shorts and t-shirt conditions. Now, thanks to Thursday's backdoor cold front and the resulting cold air damming (CAD) wedge it's back to sweatshirts for a couple of days. That's May 2026 weather in a nutshell.

Temperatures dropped like a rock as that boundary pushed south across Mecklenburg County late Thursday afternoon, bringing showers and thunderstorms. Rain totals across the area ranged from 1.92" in Clarksville and 2.26" in Chase City to a somewhat miserly 0.30" for South Hill. Any and all precipitation is welcome, however, given the increasingly concerning drought conditions.

Today (Friday), local thermometer readings look to top out only in the low to mid-60s under cloudy skies. The cloud cover will stick around throughout the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, with showers and storms possible each day. Here's the NWS Wakefield outlook for rain totals through 8:00 pm Sunday:

Monday, Memorial Day, will also feature chances of rain as yet another slow-moving cold front crosses the Appalachians.

Afternoon high temperature forecasts for this weekend could be a bit tricky, as these CAD events can be stubborn to dislodge. Saturday will also be cool, with afternoon highs likely only touching the 70º mark. Sunday's forecast high is in the low 80s, but the actual afternoon maximum may be a few degrees lower than that. By Monday the low 80s are more likely.