Happy Friday, North Carolina! Check this out; the oppressive heat has backed off some today due to an approaching cold front and cloudiness. Partly sunny today fog early in some places with increasing cumulus clouds as an approaching cold front and trough moves through the state. Moisture is very high today, so the atmosphere is locked and loaded. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop some will be around by the mid-morning hours with the best chance between 12 PM- 9 PM. The coverage will be pretty decent this morning; the best chance is across the Mountains and Foothills to see a few storms. By the late morning and afternoon, showers and thunderstorms will start developing across Central and yes Eastern NC; in fact, parts of the coast will get involved with rain chances. As always, not everyone will see storms, but they will be scattered hit or miss storms. Heat index values will be lower today only in the upper 90s, so there are no heat advisories in effect. The main risk from the storms across the state today will be gusty winds and heavy rainfall. I can't rule out a few strong to severe storms this afternoon, mainly from microbursts. A microburst is a localized column of sinking air (downdraft) within a thunderstorm and is usually less than or equal to 2.5 miles in diameter. Microbursts can cause extensive damage at the surface, and in some instances, can be life-threatening
