Memorial Day weekend is here and yes, some rain showers will occur. However, I do think there will be some dry time – especially early Saturday and Monday.
For Saturday, expect a day with a lot of cloud cover, some wind and a few showers in the afternoon. In NE NC, showers will be possible most of the day as the moisture comes in from the south. It will be quite windy on Saturday with gusts to 30-40 in VA and up to 40-45 in the OBX.
Rain will overspread the area overnight, leading to scattered showers and some downpours. Rain could be locally heavy at times leading to isolated flooding in poor drainage spots.
Sunday will be our wettest day, with on/off rain showers and some downpours. The wind will still be noticible, but it should not be as strong. Once again on Sunday, some isolated flooding could occur with some minor flooding in spots.
Monday for Memorial Day, we will continue to see some rain chances but they are lower. Only about a 40% chance of rain on Monday.
BEACH HAZARDS:
There is a HIGH risk of rip currents along our area beaches this weekend. Red flags are flying at many beaches, which means swimming is prohibitied.
What are rip currents? Simply put ,they are fast moving channels of water that flow away from the coastline. They are often found near jettys and sandbars as the water is channeled through the area. If you’re caught in a rip current, the key is to remain calm. I know – that’s hard- but it’s key to staying safe. Rip currents flow fast, so if you try to fight back against it you can exhaust yourself and risk drowning. The key is to swim parallel to the shoreline to escape the current, then swim back to the coast.
Meteorologist Steve Fundaro, an avid surfer – put together a fantastic visual explainer on what rip currents are and how to escape them. Check out his video and share it with your friends/family who may head to the beach, especially if they’re not from our area. Statistics show that many of the people who get caught in rip currents are not from areas where they have beaches, but from inland states like TN and Kentucky.
Click here to view the explainer video
Have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.
Meteorologist Ricky Matthews
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