Storm chances will extend to Thursday

There hasn't been a lot of mystery surrounding this Democratic National Convention, save for the weather.

And the big unanswered question of the week will remain that way for at least another day.

Will it storm Thursday evening for President Obama's acceptance speech?

Actually, National Weather Service meteorologists feel fairly comfortable that by the time the President speaks, sometime around 10 p.m., any thunderstorms will have moved to the east. There seems to be at least reasonable confidence that the President's speech will go off without a hitch.

But the Bank of America program begins at 1 p.m. A number of live music acts -- including the Foo Fighters, Earth, Wind and Fire, and James Taylor -- are scheduled to perform during the day and evening. And there will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Chris Horne, of the National Weather Service's office in Greer, S.C., says Thursday's forecast remains essentially the same as it has been for a couple days.

Horne says a cold front will push the unstable tropical air -- which has triggered the numerous showers and thunderstorms this week -- off the Carolinas coast.

"There will be less moist air in the atmosphere," Horne says.  That means we won't have to worry about the flood-producing showers and thunderstorms.

However, Horne says, there will be a trade-off.  With the moist air gone, there's a good chance we'll see more sunshine Thursday. Temperatures will be a couple degrees warmer than the 84-degree high Tuesday. That means the atmosphere could become unstable, and that means strong thunderstorms will be a threat.

Translated:  Don't worry about a flood.  Instead, worry about lightning and damaging wind gusts.

Democratic National Convention officials have a back-up plan, to move the outdoor program to Time Warner Cable Arena.  They say it will be a last-minute decision.  The weather will help in that regard.  It almost certainly will be the last minute before we know if strong storms will threaten the stadium.