FOX Carolina 21Some rain Thursday, a LOT of rain this weekend

Some rain Thursday, a LOT of rain this weekend

Well, I must say that the weather is staying very interesting and active through this week and next!  It doesn't look promising for snow in the Upstate, but definitely some beneficial rain for the lower elevations and possibly some wintry stuff on the way in the mountains.  Here's the latest:

Thursday: Rain will move in through the morning, starting in the mountains around daybreak, then heading into the Upstate between 7-9am.  Make sure you bring your rain gear with you, even if you don't see rain at the moment you are heading out in the morning!  We can't rule out a t-storm to the south of I85, but I'm not expecting any severe weather.  There's plenty going on dynamically with the system, but there won't be much energy for it to access in our area.  We should get around a quarter to half an inch of rain area-wide, with locally higher amounts possible.  With the fast movement of this front, I don't anticipate any flooding.

We should clear our middle afternoon on Thursday, then we'll have a clear stretch of weather for Thursday night and Friday!  Highs on Friday will be VERY comfortable in the low 60s for the Upstate and upper 50s in the mountains under lots of sunshine.

Saturday our next storm system moves in.  It will be a low pressure coming in from the gulf region.  It will have TONS of gulf moisture with it, and could mean some flooding rain for our area.  At this point, I'd say 1-2 inches is likely, with locally higher amounts in those favored mountain locations near the NC/SC border.  GFS model output is showing a little over an inch around GSP which I think is conservative. Rain will start late day on Saturday and last through much of the night.  We could see a brief changeover to snow/sleet in the mountains by late Saturday night (that part of the forecast is still a bit uncertain and will come into better focus by late week).  We'll clear through Sunday and temps will be chilly in the mid 40s for highs in the mountains and low 50s in the Upstate.   The euro models seems to have the best handle on timing and intensity right now, while GFS is bringing rain in much earlier than euro, Nam and Canadian.