Showers to arrive by lunchtime Thursday

The cloudy conditions and rain will linger throughout the afternoon and early evening, keeping highs in the low-to-mid-50s across much of the area.

WRAL Weather

"We won't see much rain during the morning commute, but the showers will spread across the area as the day rolls on," Gardner said. "It'll be pretty rainy by lunchtime and that will stick around throughout the afternoon."

Low temperatures will drop back to near 40 degrees Thursday night as skies begin to clear out.

Sunshine returns to the forecast Friday, as highs will climb back into the low-to-mid-60s for the final day of the work week.

"It'll be beautiful during the day on Friday, a lot like Wednesday," Gardner said. "But that will move out quickly and we'll start to see some increasing clouds again over the weekend."

Most of the area won't see rain until Sunday, when the next cold front arrives, but clouds will increase throughout the afternoon and evening Saturday. High temperatures will stay in the upper-50s for the first day of the weekend. 

"Our next system will bring us some showers on Sunday," Gardner said. "We could see an 1 to 1.5 inches of rain between Thursday morning and Sunday evening."

Temperatures Sunday will be cool, with highs in the upper-40s across much of central North Carolina.