Thursday will get off to a very chilly start across the Lowcountry as calm winds and clear skies combine to allow for a solid radiational freeze across the area tonight into Thursday morning. Expect lows to bottom out in the mid-20s in a fair bit of the metro, with slightly warmer — but still at or very near freezing — temperatures near the coast. Bring pets in tonight and cover sensitive plants. Consider dripping a faucet, too, especially further inland.

The good news is that temperatures won’t stay below freezing for long after the sun comes up. High pressure will move offshore, allowing temperatures to recover to the low 60s by afternoon as cloud cover increases. There is a risk for a few showers very late Thursday into early Friday, but we’ll get the daytime hours in rain-free.

A rather cold day awaits on Wednesday despite full sunshine throughout the day as chilly high pressure builds into the area. Temperatures should fall to the upper 20s in the metro area early Wednesday morning as cold air blows in. Wind chills will bottom out in the low 20s, so be sure to dress accordingly as you head out to work or school. Afternoon highs will struggle to the mid-40s as cold air continues to settle into the area throughout the day. Despite light rain during the day Tuesday, black ice doesn’t look like it will be a factor given that we’ll be drying out very quickly tonight as dewpoints plummet into the 20s.

We’ll dip a little further into the 20s overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. Temperatures should reach freezing by late evening, and should stay there through sunrise, with roughly an 8-10 hour period of freezing temperatures a decent possibility. It’ll be a good idea to keep a faucet on a drip, make sure pets are in a warm place, and ensure plants are protected. The good news is that the freeze will quickly give way to warmer temperatures Thursday afternoon, with highs expected to peak around 60°. A few showers will be possible in the late afternoon into the evening hours, but very little overall rainfall is expected.

Friday will be the only day in the next few that’ll start above freezing; expect lows in the low 40s in the morning, followed by highs in the low 60s in the afternoon. A cold front will advance through the area roughly midday or so, but the coldest air will be delayed a little bit. Still, expect clouds to scour out as drier air moves in.

Temperatures will be somewhat fickle this week as a series of fronts move through the area. Tuesday will trend on the warm side, with lows around 50° to start the day heading into the low 60s in the afternoon as the first front moves by. A few showers will be possible along and ahead of the front, primarily midday through early evening. They won’t have much moisture to wring out, so expect the showers to be on the light side. From there, temperatures will plummet overnight.

We will most definitely know that a front has come through Wednesday morning. We’ll wake up to subfreezing temperatures across much of the area away from the immediate coast; breezy northwesterly winds will make it feel closer to the low 20s. The ongoing cold advection will prevent temperatures from reaching too far into the upper 40s in the afternoon despite mostly sunny skies.

Thursday gets off to a similarly chilly start (though with less wind, at least) as lows once again head toward around 30° (and likely colder further inland and in rural areas). However, the coldest air will be departing during the day, and temperatures head to around normal in the afternoon, generally running around 60°. The respite from the very cold air continues Friday. We’ll wake up in the low 40s and top out in the upper 50s to around 60° with a few morning showers possible as another front moves by, which brings the coldest air thus far this season into the area for the weekend.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be a generally quiet day of weather, with just a few showers potentially developing late. We start the day in the upper 30s, warming to the mid-60s (and maybe beyond) in the afternoon despite increasing cloud cover. Dry conditions should persist through sunset; thereafter, a few showers could move into the area as a front approaches. Overall, though, outdoor activities look to be generally okay and rain-free.

Slight shower chances persist as we head into Tuesday. Another front will then send some very cold air our direction. We’re going to feel it big-time on Wednesday as we wake up to air temperatures around freezing, but the westerly wind around 10 MPH will make it feel much colder (think low 20s). Strong cold advection will keep temperatures limited to the upper 40s in the afternoon. After a freezing start Thursday morning, temperatures recover to near 60° in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. Another front swings through Friday, and that’ll usher in another round of even colder air over the weekend. Pipe-busting lows in the 20s could be quite common, particularly Sunday morning, with highs topping out just in the low 40s. Stay tuned to forecast updates this week as more data comes in.

Quieter weather returns to the area for the weekend, and not a moment too soon. We start Saturday in the mid-40s, but a breezy westerly wind will keep temperatures suppressed to the mid-50s despite partly cloudy skies as cool air blows in behind a cold front. Cloud cover decreases overnight and winds calm down, allowing for decent radiational cooling conditions for Sunday morning, when temperatures look to fall back to the mid-30s (and maybe near freezing in more rural areas). It’ll be a brilliantly sunny day, and temperatures will respond nicely, heading into the low 60s in the afternoon. Quiet weather should prevail for much of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, too, with only a few showers possible after sunset; the better risk for rain arrives Tuesday.

Another storm system will impact the area on Friday with gusty winds and some showers and storms in the afternoon and evening hours, with a few pockets of severe weather possible, but certainly not the widespread threat that we saw on Tuesday.

High pressure will be in control for one more day on Thursday. We’ll start the day a little cooler than we did on Wednesday, and certainly much less windy, too. However, a light breeze will still make lows in the mid-30s feel closer to freezing. Temperatures will head to the upper 50s in the afternoon under a mix of sun and cloud cover.

After a day of weather that went more or less as advertised, we get a couple days to dry out before another round of showers and thunderstorms — and maybe some more severe weather — arrives on Friday.

We will stay breezy Wednesday, particularly in the morning, as cooler and drier air blows into the area behind a cold front. We start the day in the low 40s and warm to the mid-50s in the afternoon. A few clouds will be around, but overall it’ll be much sunnier than Tuesday. (Not hard to do!)

Thursday will feature calmer winds and a chillier start. We’ll begin the day in the mid-30s before warming to the low 60s in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. It should be a fairly quiet, nice day of weather overall.

The quiet doesn’t last, though, as another storm system affects the area on Friday. While it won’t be as windy of a system as Tuesday’s was, it will still bring with it a fairly well-sheared environment which, if paired with enough instability, could yield another round of severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center has the area outlined in a 15% severe weather risk in the Day 4 outlook; we’ll see how this evolves as the rest of the week wears on. For now, though, don’t let the weather radio stray too far…we might need it again later this week.

An unusually potent storm system will affect the area on Tuesday, bringing strong, gusty non-thunderstorm winds, some tidal flooding in the morning, and a squall line in the afternoon and early evening that could bring a swath of damaging winds and maybe a few tornadoes on its leading edge.

The active weather pattern we’ve found ourselves in for the start of the year continues this week as we’ll see at least two storm systems visit the area, with quiet and generally cool weather days interspersed between them.

Monday will feature increasing clouds and a steady east to northeast breeze as high pressure wedges southward. We start the day in the mid-30s and warm to around 60° in the afternoon with clouds steadily increasing ahead of Tuesday’s storm system. Late Monday, a warm front will lift north of the area, which may bring some scattered showers along with it, but we should get much of the daylight hours, if not all of them, in rain-free.