Raleigh residents should anticipate a bit of a dreary day ahead with a chance of rain in the forecast, as the National Weather Service in Raleigh has indicated conditions will start off cloudy with a high near 62 degrees; calm winds this morning will shift to a southeast breeze reaching up to 9 mph in the afternoon, bringing a 30% chance of rain and possible nugatory precipitation amounts, as per the NWS forecast.
As the day progresses into night, the sky is expected to open up with forecasters predicting steady rain before 2am and then potential showers after 3am, the night will not only be wet but also foggy between 11pm and midnight complicating visibility, while temperatures will maintain a mild low around 57 degrees, those south winds won't be so gentle, ramping up to speeds of 10 to 15 mph and gusts that could hit as high as 33 mph, ensuring the rain that falls will be more than a sprinkle, with up to half an inch possible.
Looking ahead to Friday, we won't be seeing much improvement in the early hours with a chance of showers lingering before 7am, however the skies should start clearing by mid-morning, and while temperatures will initially hover around 51 degrees by the afternoon, they're expected to drop further, and the persistent west wind should also be strong, blowing at 11 to 16 mph and potentially gusting up to 36 mph, yet only minimal additional rain is forecasted.
The weekend, on the other hand, holds more promise as Saturday should deliver clear skies and pleasant weather with a high near 53, a calm wind in the morning turning south at about 6 mph in the afternoon; and while Saturday night will be mostly clear with a low around 39, Sunday keeps the sunny trend with temperatures climbing up to 60 degrees, the early part of next week continues this benign pattern with sunny and partly sunny days and temperature fluctuations between the low 30s at night and highs reaching mid-60s by Wednesday.
The National Weather Service has also issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook as of early this morning, warning of strong winds tonight through Friday morning with gusts between 30 and 35 mph, and isolated bursts possibly approaching 40 mph, "Winds will strengthen tonight and may gust between 30 and 35 mph, with isolated gusts to around 40 mph, Friday morning," they reported.
