Forecast Last Updated at Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 7:10AM

Showers & Storms Likely Today; More Scattered Sunday

Showers and storms are likely once again today as a front to our north and west continues to sag slowly southward. The possibility for heavy rain is there with today's showers, but there will be instances where some of us stay dry once again. Sunday will feature more of a scattered shower chance and will become even more isolated by Monday. The rest of the week will feature your typical afternoon t-shower chance thanks to the heating of the day.

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".

Saturday Hi: 75 Lo: 62 Morning fog, otherwise mostly cloudy; Showers & T-Showers likely, especially after lunchtime; SSW wind 5-10 mph

Sunday Hi: 77 Lo: 61 Mostly cloudy; Scattered t-showers especially in the PM; South wind 5-10 mph

Monday Hi: 80 Lo: 62 Partly to mostly cloudy; Isolated PM t-showers; South wind 5-10 mph

Tuesday Hi: 80 Lo: 63 Mostly cloudy; Scattered PM t-showers

Wednesday Hi: 79 Lo: 64 Mostly cloudy; Scattered afternoon and evening t-showers

Further Out

Thursday - Becoming cloudy; Good chance of t-showers especially in the PM; High near 80 degrees; Low in the mid 60s
Friday - A mix of sun and clouds; Scattered t-shower chances for the afternoon and evening; High in the upper 70s; Low in the lower 60s

Forecast Discussion

First and foremost, we hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and were able to dodge area showers and storms just long enough to get your holiday plans taken care of. Mother Nature likes to put on shows of her own and delivered in some areas with showers and storms that began Friday afternoon and lasted through the evening hours.

This weekend is going to be tough - many of us enjoyed the holiday but now everyone will be a day behind - today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday - keep that in mind.

A weakening and slow moving cold front will slowly sag southward over the course of this weekend, providing a focusing mechanism for showers and storms. The main threat for these showers and storms will be heavy rainfall, which we could all use a bit of, but some of us will stay dry again, although in the high country, we run a better chance of getting wet today versus tomorrow. Shower and storm chances are fairly high today - around 60-70% - but fall to more scattered chances tomorrow around 30-40%, but you'll be smart to keep the umbrella handy all weekend, and ultimately, for the next seven days.

High pressure will begin to build back into the region beginning early next week, but with a warm and humid southerly flow continuing, shower and storm chances will remain in scattered form for much of next week, but will be more of a diurnal convection format, meaning showers and storms thanks to the heating of the day, hence the advice to keep the umbrella handy for the next week.

Switching to the tropics, Tropical Storm Bertha continues to churn in the eastern Atlantic as she continues her trek westward, which is expected to continue for the next 6-7 days, at least. Based on Saturday morning forecast trends, Bertha's position is expected to be halfway between Bermuda and Puerto Rico by Thursday of next week. We'll continue to keep an eye on Bertha as she heads westbound through the Atlantic.

Have a great Saturday!

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.