Cloudy Friday to be followed by hot, dry weekend

A fog advisory covered the northwest Piedmont early Friday but was not causing a problem in the Triangle.

"We have some fine start here, just some clouds and fog in spots, not a big deal like it was yesterday," WRAL Meteorologist Mike Maze said.

Low-level moisture will stay in place throughout the day, keeping things humid. When the sun peeks through the clouds for a few moments, that will heat things up – and spark the chance for showers and thunderstorms in the late afternoon.

However, the weekend promises more sun – and higher temperatures, getting up into the low 90s.

High levels of humidity will stick around, but a ridge of high pressure will dry out the area and keep skies at least partly sunny.

That high pressure could ruin chances of a cool down early next week. On Friday morning, 70s appeared at the end of the seven-day forecast, but Maze warned those could soon be replaced by predictions of temperatures in the 90s.

The ridge of high pressure "will act like a brick wall, not allowing cooler air in," Maze said. "The cooling you see in the seven-day may not come to fruition. ... (But) I would like some more conclusive data before I change it."

"A ridge of high pressure will keep that away from us," Maze said.