Early afternoon storms will clear quickly, reveal clear evening

The fast-moving storms tracking toward the coast will again bring the chance of hail and wind damage, said WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. The storms will be at their strongest between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

"We have the potential to see all of that: hail, a little bit of wind damage for today with these storms coming through," Gardner said.

Despite the chance of severe weather, though, Gardner said the storm is expected to leave as quickly as it shows up.

"At 11 (a.m.), it doesn't look to impressive," Gardner said. "But there by 3 or 4 (p.m.) we start to see some of those storms. ... By 6 or 7 (p.m.) it's out of here."

Skies and humidity will clear Friday evening, Gardner said, to make way for a sunny weekend with another chance of brief rain on Saturday and temperatures in the low 70s on Sunday.

After steady rainfall over the past week, most of the state is no longer experiencing drought conditions and rain totals will continue to increase over the next two days.