RALEIGH — Whatever is left of Tropical Storm Karen will bring needed rain to the Triangle sometime Sunday night and into Monday, well after the area has enjoyed a beautiful Saturday with light winds and highs in the upper 80s, the National Weather Service said Friday.

Rainfall of more than an inch is “a good bet,” forecasters said, but they also noted that there was little confidence Friday in computer predictions about just where the storm system will go after it crosses into the United States from the Gulf of Mexico.

With little rain in recent weeks, forecasters labeled what is coming “a significant and widespread beneficial rain event.”

The forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of rain Sunday evening.

Karen, if it is still carrying that name by the time it reaches North Carolina, will produce a “stripe” of 2-inch rainfall, but again, where that will be was unclear Friday.

The weather service did say that even if the area gets only an inch of rain, there is a chance of flash flooding, especially in cities.

The rain should dissipate by Monday night for most of the Triangle, forecasters said.

Gallagher: 919-829-4572