Expect a soaking rain to pick up overnight and last through early Wednesday afternoon. Rain totals should end up being around 1-2″ across much of the Tri-County with locally heavier amounts. If there’s a piece of good news in this, right now it appears that the heavier rain is going to miss our next two times of high tide (10:33 PM Tuesday, 10:49 AM Wednesday). Salt water flooding remains a concern around times of high tide, though, with a Coastal Flood Advisory until midnight as the 10:33 PM high tide will approach 7′ in the harbor. If rain does pick up around that time, there could be more trouble on area roads, so be aware of that possibility through tomorrow.

Low pressure will depart the area Wednesday afternoon, which will shut the rain off and allow skies to begin to clear out. Depending on the timing of the clearing, we should see temperatures rise to the mid-to-upper 50s in the afternoon, setting up a rather nice Thursday with clear skies and highs in the mid-60s.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: We’re looking at a mostly cloudy day with occasional showers for Tuesday. Alas, March throws it back to mid-February tomorrow as temperatures only top out in the low 50s in the afternoon as cold air damming develops in the wake of this evening’s frontal passage. It won’t rain all day, but you’ll want to keep the gear close by in case you find yourselves in some showers. We’ll stay in the muck through Wednesday, with clearing developing on Thursday, but temperatures will remain well below normal for the rest of the week.

We begin meteorological spring with one more day in the 70s and increasing rain chances ahead of a cold front. The front will push southward across the area late Monday, leaving us significantly cooler for Tuesday and beyond. (I hope you’ve not put your sweaters away yet!)

The cold front will stall somewhere near the Gulf Coast, and low pressure will spin up and traverse it. Rain chances will come up ahead of this low pressure system later Tuesday, with widespread showers expected on Wednesday. Once low pressure departs, we should get a couple dry days in before a coastal trough possibly generates a few showers in the area on Saturday afternoon. High pressure is projected to usher this trough away from the area for Sunday.

I suspect the temperature shift back to below normal is going to be a bit of a jolt, especially after closing February with a weekend featuring highs in the 80s each day. Normal highs for the first week of March are around 66-67°, and it just doesn’t look like we’re going to get there this week.

We’ll cool off some on Friday as a backdoor cold front stalls out across the area. We could see quite a spread in temperatures across a short distance; while the forecast for the Charleston metro area is in the mid-to-upper 60s, it could be much cooler north of the front in northern Berkeley County. There will be a chance of a shower or two in the afternoon, but nothing too out-of-band (and definitely nowhere near the recent rains).

By Saturday, that stalled front lifts north across the area as a warm front, and we return to the mid-to-upper 70s across the area. Saturday’s the pick day with dry weather expected and scattered clouds. Sunday may feature a few showers with temperatures approaching 80° in the afternoon.

We’ll continue our nice weather winning streak into Thursday as temperatures will once again get into the mid-70s under mostly sunny skies. We’ll begin to see some clouds re-enter our skies tomorrow with a little more moisture moving in as a backdoor cold front moves across the Mid-Atlantic during the day, but no rain is expected. Overall, expect another pleasant day across the area.

We’re about to embark on what arguably will be the nicest stretch of weather so far this month. Temperatures will top out near 70° each day, with mostly sunny skies prevailing as high pressure remains in control for a few days. And while slight rain chances return to the picture Friday, the cold does not: expect above-average temperatures to continue as we roll into the beginning of March. I feel like we’ve earned this. Enjoy!