After days without rain across central North Carolina, future "Nate" will bring a good chance for some needed precipitation across the region this weekend.

Tropical Depression 16 will likely strengthen into a tropical storm by early Friday before pulling northward into the Gulf of Mexico early Saturday. It's becoming more likely that this system will make landfall along the Gulf Coast somewhere between Louisiana and the panhandle of Florida as a low end hurricane or tropical storm.

After that, models are generally agreeing on a northeastward movement into the Tennessee River Valley. What remains unknown, and will only become clearer with time, is how far west of the region future "Nate" will track.

If the forecast track shifts to the west, both the Piedmont and Triad will still have a likely chance of rainfall, but the rainfall totals won't be as great, with the heaviest axis of rainfall shunted to the mountains. Regardless of the track, we'll likely remain unsettled through at least the middle of next week, allowing for multiple chances for rain and putting a conclusion to the dry, quiet weather pattern that will hold across the region through Friday.