Forecast Last Updated at Monday, September 8, 2008 at 7:11AM

Late Day Thunder Possible; T-showers Tuesday; Mucky Mid-week

We enjoyed a pleasant weekend, especially Sunday. Expect a warm day today; however, a few thundershowers will pop up late today; even an isolated, heavier thunderstorm will be possible. Say "goodbye" to the sun this afternoon, we may not see it again for a while. Showers and thundershowers develop Tuesday especially in the afternoon and evening (maybe a heavier thunderstorm). Wednesday will be a cool, damp day with light rain, drizzle, and fog. The muck will continue Thursday with emphasis on the east side of the Appalachians.

The winning photos in the 2009 RWC Calendar Contest have been named. Thanks to everyone for 870 entries this year. Calendars should be available for sale by October 1.

Monday Hi: 77 Lo: 59 Increasing afternoon clouds; A late afternoon or evening t-shower possible (isolated stronger storms); Wind becoming SE 5-15 mph

Tuesday Hi: 73 Lo: 58 Cloudy; Showers & t-showers mostly in the PM (isolated stronger storms); South wind 5-10 mph becoming NW at night

Wednesday Hi: 64 Lo: 55 Cloudy; Cool; Light rain; Fog; East wind 5-15 mph

Thursday Hi: 61 Lo: 59 Cloudy; Light rain, drizzle, fog especially east near the Blue Ridge

Friday Hi: 70 Lo: 59 Mostly cloudy; Chance of showers & afternoon t-showers

Further Out

Saturday - Mostly cloudy; Scattered mostly PM t-showers; High in the lower 70s; Low in the upper 50s
Sunday - Mostly cloudy; Scattered mostly PM t-showers; High in the lower 70s; Low in the upper 50s

Forecast Discussion

Today will be seasonally warm with the chance of late afternoon or evening thundershowers; an isolated heavier thunderstorm will be possible. A front will move through Tuesday; we can expect showers and thundershowers (isolated thunderstorms) especially in the afternoon and at night. Temperatures will be near normal Tuesday.

The front will be to our south and east Wednesday, stalled by Ike in the Gulf. High pressure centered in New England will wedge down the Appalachians. Experienced weather watchers know what that means... clouds, damp, cool, drizzly, foggy weather will develop Wednesday and Thursday especially on the east side of the Appalachians (folks nearer the TN/NC line will have nicer weather than folks east near the Blue Ridge).

That cool wedge will break down after Thursday. Friday through the weekend, the next front will be approaching slowly from the NW. Ike will be pumping tons of moisture into the Southeast. Temperatures will be somewhat warmer (compared to the midweek muck). Scattered thundershowers will be possible from Friday on.

Hurricane Ike will be the major weather story nationally. Ike is weakening, as expected, now that it has come ashore in Cuba. It is a Category 2 storm and will probably weaken to a Category 1 storm as it moves WNW along the island. Once into the Gulf (late Tuesday), Ike will restrengthen as it moves NW. The most likely location for landfall in the US will be along the Upper Texas or Louisiana Coast early Saturday. Ike will have the potential to return to major hurricane status (Cat 3 or above) as it moves across the Gulf. Oil country will be in its sights. After landfall, a turn to the north and then NE will be possible; locals effects (if any at all) would come early next week.

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 and Waynesville were recently added; Black Mountain will be up and running very soon. 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.