Forecast Last Updated at Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 6:52AM

Very Nice for Two Days

Drier air is moving our way and will stay for a couple days. You'll feel the difference. Friday will be a degree or two warmer than today but still pleasant. But it is July; you know this won't last for long. Humidity will increase this weekend as a front approaches from the NW. With that, we can expect scattered thundershower chances by late Saturday afternoon. That front will stall nearby keeping the threat of mostly afternoon and evening thundershowers in our forecast from Saturday on.

The 2009 Ray's Weather Calendar Photo Contest is underway. It will run through July 31 with winners to be chosen by the middle of August. "Hit me with your best shot!" See our photo contest page for details and "fire away".

Thursday Hi: 68 Lo: 50 Patchy early AM fog then mostly sunny; Pleasant; NW wind 5-10 mph

Friday Hi: 70 Lo: 56 Lots of sun; Pleasant temps; SE wind around 5 mph

Saturday Hi: 71 Lo: 60 More clouds by afternoon; Scattered late-day & nighttime t-showers; West wind to 5 mph

Sunday Hi: 70 Lo: 59 Mostly cloudy with scattered t-showers possible; More humid

Monday Hi: 70 Lo: 60 Mostly cloudy; Scattered mostly PM t-showers possible

Further Out

Tuesday - Partly cloudy; Scattered PM showers & t-showers still possible; High near 70 degrees; Low near 60 degrees
Wednesday - Mostly cloudy; Mostly PM showers & t-showers; High in the upper 60s; Low in the lower 60s

Forecast Discussion

A front moved through last night. High pressure centered in the Western Great Lakes and Ohio Valley is pushing drier, pleasant air into the Southern Appalachians. We can expect two days of quite, pleasant weather. Friday will be a couple degrees warmer than today--but "pleasant" is still the operative word. A lone, isolated thundershower is not out of the question, but chances are too small to mention in the forecast above.

A front will move slowly through the Ohio Valley Saturday and approach our area Sunday. Humidity increases Saturday. We can expect more clouds and the chance of scattered thundershowers by late Saturday. That chance of scattered thundershowers continues Saturday night and Sunday with mostly cloudy skies.

The weekend front will stall just to our south and east Monday--close enough that scattered mostly PM thundershowers are will possible. Warm, humid conditions will continue.

Details remain to be worked out, but a frontal boundary will set up across Virginia and North Carolina west to Arkansas and Texas Tuesday and Wednesday. Scattered thundershowers will remain in our forecast through the middle of next week (and beyond) with greater coverage possible Wednesday into next Thursday.

The Tropical Atlantic is becoming less active. Dolly is still a tropical storm; it is located 95 miles NW of Brownsville TX. It will move WNW weakening as it moves farther inland into northern Mexico--a depression by tonight and dissipating Friday. A large tropical wave is about 600 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. It shows no immediate signs of strengthening.

Sugar Mountain Resort Activities

Join us this summer.

Summer scenic lift rides every weekend beginning Friday, July 4th through Sunday, August 31st.

Mark your calendar for Sugar's 18th annual Oktoberfest Saturday & Sunday, October 11-12, 2008. Just a plain "ole" good time for the whole family! www.skisugar.com/Oktoberfest. Handmade arts and crafts vendors now being accepted.

Hiking and biking trails intertwine throughout the Village of Sugar Mountain. Trail access is free of charge May through October during daylight hours. Trail maps are located in a black, marked mailbox at the base of the Flying Mile slope. Trails are constantly being maintained so please be cautious. Also keep in mind that weather and other variables can change the condition of any trail. While riding a bike within the Village limits helmets are required.

Announcements

RaysWeather.Com continues to grow. We are an "information age" company using the web to broadcast the message but also as a tool for producing the message. RaysWeather.Com (what we call RWC) has evolved from "Ray's hobby in Beautiful Downtown Rutherwood" in 1999 to the most widely read media outlet in NW NC reaching 150,000 to 200,000 people per month and covering the weather from NC/VA line to Asheville and Wolf Laurel. We will continue to grow geographically as well--Roaring Gap has just been added; Waynesville, you're next. The heart of the growth is good data, "local flavor", and THE most reliable forecast.

We recently added our 6th forecaster to the best forecast team ever assembled for this region. It's time for us to introduce "the crew"...

• Dr. Ray Russell is a Computer Science professor at Appalachian State University. His PhD is in Computer Science from Georgia Tech (1989); weather has been a long-time passion. He started posting a "snow forecast" on the university website back in the mid 1990's; this evolved into RaysWeather.Com in 2000. Ray lives in Boone and has taught at Appalachian State since 1991.
• Eric Anderson (RWC's Chief Meteorologist) received his degree in meteorology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and is a 15-year veteran of NOAA with experience in forecasting, observation and analysis. A native of western North Carolina, Eric's former tenure in the National Weather Service gave him the opportunity to forecast for areas of the Mid-Atlantic region. His professional interests include upslope flow snow events in the southern Appalachians, as well as cold air damming in the Carolinas.
• Alan Simons, born in Fayetteville NC, has a Bachelor of Science in meteorology and almost 20 years of professional experience that includes forecasting for newspapers, websites, radio, aviation, and the military. He first became interested in weather in North Carolina, and RWC takes him back home after a variety of duty stations, from New York to Hawaii. Alan's been with the RWC team since 2003.
• Tim Kirby joined Ray's Weather Center in October 2004 and lives in his hometown of Fries, VA (pronounced Freeze). The folks from this small Grayson County town say "it's freeze in winter and fries in summer". He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from NC State University. While at NC State, he was president of the NCSU Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society. Before joining RWC, Tim worked for the National Weather Service for ten years in Raleigh, Chattanooga and Morristown, Tennessee. Tim has always loved the challenge of forecasting and owes his dedication to a childhood fascination of snow (no school!).
• Harold Alston is a N.C. native with Bachelor of Science degrees from both App State (Broadcast Communications) and UNC-Asheville (Meteorology). He has 30 years experience tracking and forecasting NC weather including 15 years experience for media outlets. Nailing down Appalachian wedges & wintry possibilities are his areas of expertise with a lifetime of N.C. weather experiences to reference.
• Jeff Cox, a native of Asheville, is the latest addition to the RWC team. He earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Atmospheric Sciences from UNC-Asheville. At UNC-A, he was the lead forecaster for the school's Weather Forecast Line, campus Radio Station, "The Blue Echo" and the campus newspaper, "The Blue Banner." Jeff has experience as a meteorologist in both television and radio. He spent over 2 years in Macon, GA, as the chief meteorologist at WGXA FOX-24. He also has experience as a radio broadcast meteorologist for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia.