A slightly less humid Wednesday will give way to a stickier Thursday

Summertime "cold" fronts typically bring drier - but not much cooler - air into Mecklenburg County. Tuesday morning's boundary passage did just that, allowing the stickiness to ease overnight. That helped this (Wednesday) morning's temperatures around the county to actually dip into the upper 60s at a couple of locales.

Sunny skies and the strong August sunshine will boost this afternoon's highs to the 90º mark on most local thermometers. However, with this slightly drier air mass in place the heat index will remain below the triple digit mark for a slightly more comfortable day. The clear skies will continue into tonight.

Tomorrow will feature a rapid return of higher humidity thanks to two factors. First, the aforementioned boundary - now well south of the area - will push back north. As it does so, another front will be crossing the Appalachians from the Ohio valley. The combination will open the door to very sticky air still residing across the southeastern states.

Thus, after a mostly sunny first half of Thursday, showers and storms return to the forecast tomorrow afternoon. That second "cold" front will hang up near the coast early Friday morning. The boundary's proximity to Mecklenburg County will foster a significant amount of rain Thursday night through Friday. This NWS Wakefield graphic shows expected totals across the region by Saturday morning:

At this point it looks like another split-personality weekend upcoming, with a cloudy and damp Saturday followed by a sunny and dry Sunday. The next blogpost will take a closer look at that on Friday.