Weekend gets off to 'bright and dry start'

Raleigh, N.C. — WRAL Meteorologist Mike Moss promised "a bright and dry start to the weekend" after a few showers and storms on Friday evening.

Saturday stayed sunny, with a balmy high of 75 degrees and 63 percent relative humidity.

Sunday will begin with a fair amount of sun, but an upper-level disturbance will usher in variable clouds and produce a shot at some showers and thunderstorm activity during the afternoon and evening.

Thompson said the Triangle area could possibly see a quarter-inch of rain Sunday.

Monday looks clear and warm, but Tuesday looks to be rainy.

On Friday a couple narrow bands of relatively heavy showers dropped 0.39 inches of rain on Raleigh-Durham International Airport and 0.17 inches on Fayetteville. The day's average humidity was 75 percent.

Friday’s rain continued to bring drought relief to eastern and central North Carolina, as rains have picked up in this spring.

With Friday's accumulation, Raleigh's rainfall total was behind four-tenths for the year – but ahead 2.67 inches since March, according to the National Weather Service.

Most of the Triangle remained in the moderate drought category, according to the weekly report by the state Drought Management Advisory Council issued on Thursday. Wake, Durham and Harnett counties were on the line separating areas under moderate drought and those experiencing abnormally dry conditions.

Sixteen of the state's 100 counties were completely out of the drought, and another 26 counties were experiencing abnormally dry conditions, the mildest of five drought categories.