Forecast Last Updated at Monday, September 8, 2008 at 12:36PM

More Clouds This Week; Better Rain Chances

This week will be highlighted by more clouds, cooler temperatures and better chances for rainfall. After a partly sunny and warm Monday, the rest of the week will be mostly cloudy. Scattered thundershowers are expected this afternoon, with even better chances for rain both Tuesday and Wednesday.

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.

The calendar reads September, which means one thing in the mountains - the North Carolina Mountain State Fair. This annual event lasts through September 14th. Make sure to check with AshevilleWeather.com before heading out to the fairgrounds.

Monday Hi: 88 Lo: 65 Partly sunny & quite warm; A late day shower or t-storm around; SE wind 5-10 mph

Tuesday Hi: 83 Lo: 64 Mostly cloudy; Showers & t-storms likely during the afternoon & evening; Light SW wind

Wednesday Hi: 77 Lo: 63 Mostly cloudy & cooler; Showers likely; SE wind 5-10 mph

Thursday Hi: 73 Lo: 64 Generally cloudy; Noticeably cooler; Still a chance for light rain or drizzle at times

Friday Hi: 80 Lo: 65 Mostly cloudy; Scattered PM t-showers

Further Out

Saturday - Partly cloudy; Scattered PM t-showers; High in the lower 80s; Low in the mid 60s
Sunday - Partly to mostly cloudy; Pretty good chance for PM showers & t-showers; High in the lower 80s; Low in the mid 60s

Forecast Discussion

Increasing atmospheric instability will be the impetus for a couple of afternoon and evening thunderstorms around western North Carolina, although we are expecting a fair amount of sunshine today.

A cold front moving into the state late Tuesday and then into South Carolina on Wednesday will thicken cloud cover over the area while improving rain chances further during this period.

High pressure nosing in from the north will shove temperatures below normal for both Wednesday and Thursday as skies remain generally gray. We expect to bounce-back by week's end as the high shifts offshore and directs a more southerly flow of air into the state.

Hurricane Ike will be moving westward across Cuba today and tomorrow, weakening as it traverses the island. By Wednesday, Ike will be back over the water as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Ike will likely restrengthen as it heads toward the Texas/Louisiana coast by this weekend.

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--Burnsville 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.