More record-breaking heat on Friday, then big cooldown this weekend

We broke a record for the highest temperature on Oct. 16 on Friday.

WRAL meteorologist Kat Campbell said RDU hit 87 degrees around 2 p.m. The previous record was 86, which we hit in 1925.

Despite all that unseasonable heat, fall temperatures are returning by the weekend.

• Friday: More clouds by later in the day. Highs in the upper 80s-90.
• Saturday: Highs much cooler in the 60s. Scattered showers mainly earlier in the day.
• Sunday: More sunshine and drier. Highs at around 60.

The strongest front of the season on the way

After hitting 90 degrees on Wednesday and 89 on Thursday, we are set to reach around that temperature again on Friday. High pressure will still be in place, and a front will be stalled just to our north.

Our Friday will feature more warmth and some building cloud cover later in the day ahead of our next cold front. Highs will climb into the upper 80s-90 across the region. By late in the day, we’ll see our chances for scattered showers increase with the best chance Saturday morning.

Models still show scattered showers for Saturday

Models still show the chance for scattered showers the first half of the day Saturday. The atmosphere looks to be pretty stable, so we don't expect thunderstorms.

Rain chances will drop into Saturday afternoon, and we will slowly clear through the rest of the Saturday and into Sunday. Highs will drop into the 60s for the weekend, and lows will drop into the 40s with some in the upper 30s Sunday morning.

Some rural and northern spots could see their first patchy frost of the season. The frost will not be widespread across our area, however.

Highs will stay in the 60s and 70s through the middle of next week. If an area of low pressure develops offshore by the back half of next week, we could see a few showers by Thursday. For now, we expect to stay mostly dry for at least the first half of next week. We will continue to watch these trends.

Isaias brings drought relief to western, eastern NC

The latest drought report released on Oct. 15 showed little change from the previous week for central North Carolina. Eastern and western NC saw some continued improvements thanks to rain from the remnants of Isaias.

7-day forecast for central North Carolina

• Friday: Mostly sunny and breezy. Highs in the upper 80s.
• Saturday: Trending wetter with scattered showers. Cooler with highs in the low-mid 60s.
• Sunday: Sunny with highs in the mid-60s.
• Monday: Partly cloudy and highs in the low 70s.
• Tuesday: Partly cloudy with highs in the low 70s.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny with highs in the low 70s.
• Thursday: Partly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s.