Another active day ahead for our Sunday!

Ethan Clark

July 19, 2026 at 2:38:16 PM

⛈️ Storm Update: Here we go again, another active afternoon and evening is expected across parts of the state. A cold front will approach the region from the north later today. This, along with increasing CAPE (Convective available potential energy) to over 2,000 J/kg, will result in scattered showers and thunderstorms developing.

We should have an unstable lapse rate, meaning the rate at which atmospheric temperature decreases with increasing altitude, this afternoon and evening. Gusty winds and downbursts would be the main threat; a couple of storms could be strong to severe across the state.

As with the last few days, not everyone will see storms, but the ones that do develop will be strong to severe with gusty to damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and lots of lightning being the main threats.

The timing will be mainly after lunch into the late evening. I've attached the future radar. Don't take it literally; it just gives you an idea of the scattered storms in nature. I'll pass along updates.

-Ethan

Mountains

110°F

Raleigh area

CADEN NELSON

Forecast July 9th: Sunny skies followed by a risk of storms and heavy rainfall.

Ethan Clark
Jul 9, 2025
1 min read

It'll be a more active day across the state today. Happy Wednesday, North Carolina! I expect the day to start off quiet for most everyone with just some patches of fog, followed by mostly sunny skies. It'll turn hot and humid once again today. We will then see scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms develop. We will have to watch for gusty winds/heavy rainfall/ Flash Flooding with any storms that get going today. The concern is scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms that will develop across Central and Western North Carolina this afternoon and evening. It appears to be a very summertime setup, but the saturated ground raises a greater concern. How will the storms form, the spark from the heating of the day, and the lee trough (often called the Piedmont trough), which is lower pressure that often sets up in the summer east of the mountains. It usually runs north-south across the Piedmont roughly along I-85 or U.S. 1 from around Charlotte through the Triad up toward Raleigh and into southern Virginia. This is where the air rises and clouds and storms start forming, especially on hot and humid days. We should have a good amount of that today. Highs today will be in the 80s and 90s, be aware of hit or miss storms mainly after 2PM today. . The concern is that the hit-or-miss storms that develop today will bring heavy rainfall, and any additional rainfall over the Western Piedmont is not needed, given how high area streams and rivers are already running.