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Rain Hopes Alive: Fronts passing through region give the Triad a good chance of getting some rain this week
Journal Photo by David Rolfe
Alex Neely, a student at UNC Greensboro, spends part of his summer break reading a novel on a grassy knoll at Miller Park in Ardmore.
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Published: July 8, 2008
It's going to be a good week to keep the umbrella handy.
The National Weather Service forecast for much of Northwest North Carolina includes the possibility of scattered storms through the week.
The rains are coming from two separate storm fronts, said Robert Stonefield, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg, Va.
The storms that started Sunday are the result of a front that came across the southern Appalachian Mountains. Wind gusts of more than 60 mph were recorded at Smith Reynolds Airport on Sunday afternoon, and scattered storms from that front could appear through Wednesday.
Another front -- this one coming from the Ohio Valley on Thursday -- could bring storms Thursday and Friday, Stonefield said. He said that the storms could become severe at times.
"That's a possibility every time a summer front comes through the area, especially if it slows up," he said.
A thunderstorm rolled through Wilkes and western Surry counties last night, dumping quarter- and golf-ball-size hail in western and central Wilkes and on U.S. 421, authorities said. It had winds in excess of 60 mph.
That storm was moving east toward Forsyth County at 10 mph, the weather service reported. Another storm with penny-size hail was near Mountain Park in Surry County. There were no reports of damage.
Jason Beaman, a meteorologist with the Raleigh office of the weather service, said that not all areas would get rain each day, but most will get at least some rain this week.
The rain is expected to help ease conditions across the drought-stricken state, Beaman said.
"Overall we have benefited with at least 3 inches of rain in most places just this month," he said.
"It won't break the drought, but it will help alleviate some drought-related problems."
Hurricane Bertha is not likely to contribute to this week's wet weather, Beaman said.
The hurricane was generating 90 mph winds by yesterday morning and was expected to gain strength as it moved across the Atlantic Ocean.
But the hurricane is expected to move off to the northeast and travel out to sea this week without coming near the North Carolina coast, Beaman said.
■ Paul Garber can be reached at 727-7327 or at pgarber@wsjournal.com.
■ Journal reporter John Hinton contributed to this story.
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