My advice to folks for this weekend: get out and about Saturday as much as you can, soaking in what passes for warmth during this rather chilly December, because another shot of very cold air is enroute to start the new week.
Saturday starts in the low-to-mid-40s, warmest near the coast. Southwesterly flow around high pressure to our east will help drive temperatures into the mid-to-upper 60s in the afternoon with just a few clouds at times. It’s going to be a pretty nice day, so get out and enjoy it!
The front arrives Sunday. A few showers are possible out ahead of the front, but many of us may stay rain-free. The front itself passes through around midday or so, and we should see temperatures begin to fall off in the afternoon. We’ll peak in the upper 50s to around 60° relatively early in the day as a result. Once the sun goes down, temperatures will plummet below freezing by midnight and will continue to fall heading into Monday morning.
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.
Another dry front will come through overnight with a reinforcing shot of cooler air for our neck of the woods, but at least we won’t be starting the day with freezing fog like we did this morning. Freezing fog occurs when fog develops at temperatures below freezing, producing a glaze of ice on surfaces it comes into contact with (generally elevated surfaces). This morning, temperatures fell to the dewpoint of 28°, which aided in its formation and caused quite a few problems on bridges and overpasses, with numerous traffic accidents and closure of both the Don Holt and North Bridges. Freezing fog is incredibly, incredibly rare for this part of the world — in fact, this morning’s Freezing Fog Advisory was the first ever issued for the Charleston metro area, and only the second issued by NWS Charleston, SC (the first one was issued in 2022).
Thankfully, we will not deal with this Thursday morning as temperatures are expected to stay above freezing, generally running in the upper 30s to around 40°. The aforementioned dry front comes through early in the day, and this helps usher in another shot of cooler air that’ll keep things breezy and chilly Thursday afternoon, with highs only reaching the low 50s despite partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies. Morning wind chills may bottom out in the low 30s, so layer appropriately.
After another cold start on Wednesday, we’ll see temperatures climb a bit, though it’ll still be on the chilly side of normal, especially Thursday as a reinforcing front kicks up the cloud cover a bit.
We’ll finally shed the cloud cover that’s punctuated the last several days on Tuesday as high pressure builds in from the northwest. The aforementioned high pressure will drive even cooler and drier air into the area, and we’ll wake up below freezing as a result away from the coast. The northerly breeze will help drive wind chills down into the low to mid-20s during the morning, so be sure to add a layer or two as you head out for the day. The feed of cooler and drier air continues throughout the day, so even with plenty of sunshine, highs will likely not climb out of the upper 40s.
After a rare dreary weekend, the sun will slowly return to our skies on Monday — generally in fits and starts, with some overcast periods in there as well — before more doggedly reasserting itself on Tuesday as high pressure builds in behind a dry front. After another front and maybe a few showers Friday, temperatures look to plunge for the weekend.
