NWS Flood Watch (Wilkes County)

Current Conditions
Laurel Ridge

Temp: 35.8°F

Forecast Last Updated at Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 6:42AM

Gully Washer and a Bad Hair Day

Rain will move in later this morning and last throughout the daytime. The heaviest rain will occur overnight through Thursday morning. Occasional rain will persist into Thursday night, gradually tapering off to a few showers Friday morning. Rainfall totals should generally be in the 2-3 inch range with a few spots getting more. Southerly winds will pick up this afternoon and become gusty overnight. Winds increase even more Thursday with 50 mph gusts not out of the question. The wind switches to the NW Friday but remains gusty, up to 40 mph. Temperatures begin dropping Thursday evening and Friday will be much cooler. The weekend looks cool and dry and we turn even colder early next week.

Ray Russell's 2020-2021 Winter Fearless Forecast is now available. The bottom line for the forecast is: 1) less than average snow and 2) slightly warmer than average temperatures. We will have a few significant snow events but prolonged cold periods will be difficult to sustain. Get all the details here. The Fearless Forecast is sponsored by Peak Insurance Group.

The 2021 Blue Ridge Calendar is in stores now.  Visit RaysMarketPlace.com for a complete listing of retailers or purchase online.  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the important work of the Blue Ridge Conservancy.

Wednesday Hi: 63 Lo: 59 Cloudy with fog; Rain developing by late-morning; Wind becoming South 5-15 mph, gusty Wed. night

Thursday Hi: 70 Lo: 45 Cloudy; Rain, heavy at times during the day, tapering off Thur. night; South wind 15-25 mph, gusts to 50 mph, becoming NW Thur. night

Friday Hi: 49 Lo: 35 Early clouds; Light AM showers; Then clearing and much cooler; NW wind 15-25 mph with gusts to 40 mph; Wind tapering off during the evening

Saturday Hi: 50 Lo: 39 Mostly sunny; Cool for Halloween; Breezy

Sunday Hi: 51 Lo: 32 Variably cloudy; Maybe a light passing shower; Cooler Sunday night; Breezy

Further Out

Monday - Few clouds; Colder and windy; High near 40 degrees; Low in the upper 20s
Tuesday - Mostly sunny and warmer; High near 50 degrees; Low in the mid 30s

Forecast Discussion

Hurricane Zeta is expected to make landfall along the southeast Louisiana coast later today as a category 1, perhaps and category 2, hurricane. Zeta's remnants will join forces with a non tropical low moving across the southern Plains and move across the Southeast and southern Appalachians Thursday. The entire system will move off the mid-Atlantic coast Friday.

The results will be rain, beginning later this morning, and gusty winds beginning later tonight. The heaviest rain will be overnight into Thursday morning and the rain should gradually wind down by Friday morning. Rain totals will likely be in the 2-3 inch range with some spots getting higher totals. Winds will be from the south and become stronger and gusty overnight. Winds pick up more Thursday and we could see gusts near 50 mph from the south.

Colder air moves in Friday along with gusty winds from the northwest. Winds could gust to near 40 mph on Friday before diminishing Friday night. Chilly high pressure controls our weather Saturday with sunshine and cool temperatures. We warm a little ahead of a cold front Sunday and there could be a rogue shower or two. The cold front moves through Sunday night with much colder air behind it for Monday along with strong and gusty winds once again. We warm a little Tuesday as high pressure takes control of our weather.

Announcements

Using information from RaysWeather.Com

First, all data and forecasts on RaysWeather.Com are the intellectual property of RaysWeather.com, Inc. Here is our usage policy regarding rebroadcast or redistribution of any information from our site...

"The reader is not permitted to reproduce, retransmit, redistribute any weather data, forecasts, analysis, image, or any other product from this site to any other person or entity, in any format by any means. All information, data, and images contained on any page of this site are copyrighted by RaysWeather.Com, Inc. (unless otherwise noted) and is the property of RaysWeather.Com, Inc. Information, data, and images from this site may not be archived or stored for future use. Exceptions to this condition of use may only be made by express, written permission of RaysWeather.Com." See our Terms and Conditions page.

In short, if you do not have a written agreement with us to do so, you do not have permission to republish any information found on this site. If you work for a media entity (TV, radio, website, newspaper, etc.) and wish to republish information from this site, please contact us at raysweather.com or call our offices at 828.264.2030.