A brief warmup is in the cards for Friday and again on Saturday before a front moves by with some showers Sunday. This front will usher in a bitterly cold Arctic airmass that’ll plunge temperatures into the low 20s by Monday morning.

But first, a quiet and sunny couple days leading into the second-to-last shopping weekend before Christmas. We start Friday flirting with freezing in the metro, with below-freezing temperatures expected further inland and in rural locations, before warming to about 60° in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies. Departing high pressure will help warm things up even more for Saturday, with temperatures running right around normal for mid-December on tap under mostly sunny skies once more.

Big changes begin to arrive Sunday as the aforementioned Arctic front plunges into the area. While moisture isn’t terribly plentiful, there should be enough for the front to wring out some showers as it passes through generally around midday. Once that front swings through, temperatures should respond fairly quickly, with the high in the low 60s likely to be achieved early in the day before cooling off. If the front comes through sooner, we may not even achieve 60°, so keep that in mind as you plan ahead as well.

Temperatures will plunge overnight Sunday into Monday morning, with some of the coldest air since late January expected to move in for a couple days. This airmass will bring a pipe-busting freeze and wind chills in the single digits to low teens to the Lowcountry, with highs struggling to the low 40s in the afternoon. After another very cold day on Tuesday, temperatures will rebound heading into the end of next week, with above-normal temperatures possible by late week.

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