Warm and sunny to begin the work week, then rain later?

This Monday morning thermometers at Mecklenburg County sites bottomed out in the low 40s. Thanks to a southwesterly wind and strong May sunshine those readings will climb into the upper 70s this afternoon. That's pretty close to the 30 year average for this date.

Tonight those southerly breezes will gust up to 20 mph, ushering in much warmer air. Thus Tuesday morning low temperatures will only drop into the mid-50s, followed by afternoon highs in the low 80s under continued sunny skies. By tomorrow night clouds will begin to overspread the area as the next storm system moves across the mountains.

Some beneficial rain is therefore possible for the midweek period. At the moment this is the outlook for precipitation totals for the first and second halves of this week:

Fingers crossed that this next system will actually overcome the dry air currently in place over the region and bring that rain. We'll see.