After one more freezing cold morning across the Tri-County — perhaps the coldest since late November with lows in the 20s spreading well into the metro area — a warming trend will commence to get us over the hump and into the end of the work week. Wednesday afternoon will feature temperatures running about 5-7° above where we topped out on Tuesday, with upper 50s expected under mostly sunny skies. Cloud cover will tick up overnight Wednesday into Thursday as a weak front approaches, possibly even generating a shower or two. We’ll see more sun on Friday with temperatures remaining within spitting distance of normal for mid-January here in Charleston.

About this weekend

There’s a lot of scuttlebutt in social media today about the potential for winter weather in the Carolinas this weekend, particularly as we get into Sunday. Right now, it’s solidly within the “bears watching” camp. The official forecast right now is for chilly rain, but that is going to be governed by the development of surface low pressure late Saturday into Sunday morning. Where that low develops and how far north it tracks are two of the many variables at play when trying to determine if there are going to be any precipitation type issues here in the Lowcountry. As a result, right now it’s just too soon to go into any specifics as to what will ultimately take place.

This is one of those situations where the bundled weather apps on your phones with automated forecasts are going to fall short and potentially be very chaotic at times. I’d lean less on those this week and more on updates from trusted local sources — the human element remains unmatched when breaking down uncertainty and recognizing patterns in these kinds of complex situations.

In case you missed it, I joined Evan Fisher for a special Carolina Weather Group live show discussing exactly this earlier tonight. Check out the video!

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