Forecast Last Updated at Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 5:10PM

Pleasant & Cool Evening; Warmer Ahead

A quick warmup developed this afternoon, returning us to near-average temperatures. However, for Friday, we return to seemingly toasty temperatures after this cool reprieve. Dry weather extends into Saturday (only a renegade afternoon thundershower south of Avery County). But a tropical low in the Gulf probably strengthens into a named Tropical Storm overnight or early Friday in the Gulf. It comes inland in Louisiana Friday night and reaches the Southern Appalachians Sunday night. Next week will begin with stormy weather.

"Hit us with your best shot! Fire away!"
Submissions for the 2022 Blue Ridge Calendar opened June 4 and will run through June 21. Click here for the submissions page.
RaysWeather.Com is again partnering with the Blue Ridge Conservancy (https://blueridgeconservancy.org/) to produce the Blue Ridge Calendar. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Blue Ridge Conservancy. RaysWeather.Com has been sponsoring the photo contest and producing a calendar for 18 years.

Thursday Hi: 77 Lo: 52 Mostly clear; Cool in valleys; Light SW wind

Friday Hi: 85 Lo: 61 Mostly clear; Quickly warmer; SW wind 5-15 mph, gusty at higher elev's Fri. night

Saturday Hi: 86 Lo: 61 Scattered PM clouds; Cannot rule out a renegade afternoon t-shower south of Avery County; West wind 5-15 mph, gusty at higher elev's Sat. night

Sunday Hi: 81 Lo: 61 Becoming cloudy; Showers and thundershowers developing in the afternoon, continuing overnight; Isolated heavy rain possible; Breezy

Monday Hi: 83 Lo: 61 Cloudy start, but breaks in the PM hours; AM showers and thundershowers; Breezy

Further Out

Tuesday - Mostly cloudy; Scattered showers & t-showers; Breezy; High in the upper 70s; Low in the mid 50s
Wednesday - Scattered clouds; A bit cooler;Pleasant weather; High in the upper 70s; Low in the lower 50s

Forecast Discussion

The weather story through Saturday is a "big bubble, no trouble" story with progressively warmer temperatures. The center of high pressure moves into the Atlantic tomorrow. We limited mention of a renegade afternoon thundershowers Saturday to SW NC, south of Avery County. Enjoy the beautiful weather.

But trouble is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. The signals for a tropical system have been strong for a while; it's all coming together now. Low pressure strengthens into a named tropical storm (Claudette) either tonight or early Friday. Claudette moves north reaching Louisiana Friday night. We expect the tropical storm's remnant low to move through Mississippi (Saturday) and the Southern Appalachians (Sunday night) before exiting off the Carolina Coast. The exact pace and path have some uncertainty, but uncertainty is decreasing with every hour.

So for here... Clouds increase Sunday. Showers and thundershowers develop in the afternoon, continue overnight, and end Monday morning. Isolated heavy rain is possible.

We are counting on the system to exit our region Monday afternoon. We'll have a short break before a front from the NW arrives Tuesday with scattered showers and thundershowers. That front should be well to our south by Wednesday, leaving us with slightly cooler and beautiful weather again.

Announcements

Using information from RaysWeather.Com

First, all data and forecasts on RaysWeather.Com are the intellectual property of RaysWeather.com, Inc. Here is our usage policy regarding rebroadcast or redistribution of any information from our site...

"The reader is not permitted to reproduce, retransmit, redistribute any weather data, forecasts, analysis, image, or any other product from this site to any other person or entity, in any format by any means. All information, data, and images contained on any page of this site are copyrighted by RaysWeather.Com, Inc. (unless otherwise noted) and is the property of RaysWeather.Com, Inc. Information, data, and images from this site may not be archived or stored for future use. Exceptions to this condition of use may only be made by express, written permission of RaysWeather.Com." See our Terms and Conditions page.

In short, if you do not have a written agreement with us to do so, you do not have permission to republish any information found on this site. If you work for a media entity (TV, radio, website, newspaper, etc.) and wish to republish information from this site, please contact us at raysweather.com or call our offices at 828.264.2030.