Wonderful Weekend Weather

By today, many of us are dialing in our weekend plans and trying to fit them in according to the weather. Memorial Day weekend is special in many ways.

Monday’s ceremonies are important to most of us in this country. Memorial Day weekend is also the first long weekend of the summer season and sets the tone for great summer adventures.

Instead of picking a location based on the forecast, today I’m just going to talk about what’s likely to happen weather-wise for the whole state. Hopefully that will cover your plans no matter where you are headed.

We are fortunate to have seen a good bit of rain for the month of May across the state. At Raliegh-Durham International Airport, precipitation is running a little over 1 inch ahead of normal for the spring. So, we don’t have to feel too guilty about the fact that we may have a fairly dry Memorial Day.

A general overview of our weather shows a high pressure system lingering to our northeast this weekend. We’ll see a slight increase in moisture on Friday and Saturday. That means it will feel more humid and we’ll have a chance of afternoon/evening storms.

If you’re headed to the mountains, it looks pleasant. Highs will range from mid 70s to near 80. Skies will be variably cloudy with a chance of afternoon/evening storms all three days. If you’re camping, temperatures at night don’t look too bad. Expect mid to upper 50s.

Central North Carolina looks pleasant. Highs in the mid 80s all three days with lows in the mid 60s. Saturday looks partly cloudy but there is a slight chance of evening storms on Sunday and Monday.

The coast looks nice! Highs in the mid 70s to low 80s with a lesser chance of storms than for western and central N.C. Overnight lows in the mid 60s. Remember, the ocean temps are still cool this time of year. They are running in the mid to upper 60s.