Wednesday's hot weather was in advance of a cold front settling south across the state.

• 7-day forecast
• Interactive radar

The cold front will bring the best chance for showers and thunderstorms across northern North Carolina through the overnight

A few of the storms could produce locally heavy downpours and frequent lightning and could continue into the pre-dawn hours.

As the front slowly moves south across the state Thursday, scattered storms are possible, mainly in the afternoon, especially across the Sandhills and along the I-95 corridor.

The front will bring near normal temperatures for the last half of the week with highs in the upper 80s to near 90 from Thursday into the weekend.