The start of Friday will remain quiet with bright sunny skies and feels like temps near 102°. By Friday evening, though, the atmosphere starts to get a little more unsettled. A few scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected, with the best opportunity after the evening commute. These storms will be the first sign of the bigger weather change headed our way this weekend.
Duke Energy is the latest utility to bow to pressure from the Trump administration to cancel offshore wind leases in return for money.
The big story for the second half of the week is the heat. A strong ridge of high pressure will park itself over the Southeast beginning Wednesday, acting like a lid on the atmosphere and allowing the heat to build for multiple days. Afternoon temperatures will climb into the upper 90s to around 100 degrees through the holiday weekend, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday coming very close to record highs. Add in the humidity, and it'll feel even hotter outside, so if you have holiday plans, be sure to take the heat seriously.
France has recorded its hottest day ever amid an exceptional heat wave in Europe. The national weather agency says France’s national thermal indicator—an average of temperatures measured at 30 weather stations— hit a new record of 85.6 F.
Rain chances increase overnight for the Carolinas as remnant tropical moisture moves in. Isolated spin-up tornadoes not out of the question.
Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization, has been conducting training exercises to prepare for hurricane season.
A 7.8 magnitude offshore earthquake hit the southern Philippines, killing at least 35 people, injuring hundreds and sending tsunami waves into nearby coasts.
NOAA has released their 2026 Atlantic Basin hurricane forecast and it is projected to be a below-average hurricane season.
The City of Monroe activated a newly constructed pipeline Friday, beginning the flow of nearly two million gallons of additional water per day into Lake Lee, which sits at the center of Monroe's three-lake drinking water system.
