After a dreary Monday the 13th, we’ll see much more sunshine on Tuesday as high pressure rebuilds across the area. Our run of cooler-than-normal temperatures will continue, but it won’t be quite as bad; lows bottom out in the low 30s, just under freezing, and warm to the mid-50s in the afternoon. You’ll still probably need a jacket, but the bitterness of the cold will come down a notch.

Thursday will be the coldest day of the week as a little reinforcing cool air moves into the area from the north. We start the day in the mid-20s, but the wind will factor in a bit more than the previous couple mornings, driving wind chills down into the teens across even the Charleston metro area. Thus, a Cold Weather Advisory will be in effect until 9am. Despite unfettered sunshine, highs will struggle to the mid-40s in the afternoon, and with the persistent north to northwest winds around 5-10 MPH, it’ll still feel like the upper 30s throughout the day. Layer up accordingly — you’ll be glad you did.

The weather takes a turn for the cold and stays there for the rest of the work week starting Tuesday in the wake of a front that passed through Monday evening. We’ll start Tuesday below freezing away from the coast, with lows in the low 30s expected. A bit of a breeze — though certainly not the gusty winds we saw on Monday — will keep wind chills in the low 20s Tuesday morning, so prepare accordingly for bus stops. Highs on Tuesday will struggle to the mid-to-upper 40s despite plenty of sunshine as cold and dry high pressure builds in.

High pressure will be settling into the area overnight into Thursday, and this will drive a mostly sunny but seasonably cool day across the area. Expect lows in the mid-30s (with perhaps some freezing values in rural locations) to start Thursday, warming to just the mid-50s in the afternoon despite all the sunshine. Generally, temperatures will be running a few degrees below early January normals (normal high of 60°, normal low of 39°), but nothing terribly out of bounds.

We’ll finish 2024 on a rather warm note before a cold front ushers in the first of what should be several rounds of cold air to start 2025.

Sunday looks to be an active weather day as a cold front approaches the area. Expect at least scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms to develop throughout the day, with a possible squall line moving by sometime in the early to mid-afternoon hours.

A coastal trough continues to affect the area today, with showers overrunning the top of a cold high pressure wedge that has kept temperatures pretty constantly in the mid-40s for the past couple days now. We should see that trough lift inland later today, though, as high pressure anchored to the northeast weakens and steps aside. This will help break the wedge and allow a little warmer air to move in, especially later, though we will stay somewhat cool with highs in the upper 50s. The risk for showers should also diminish with time today, though we can expect off and on rain for much of it.

A front will pass through overnight Wednesday into Thursday, but we’ll keep cloud cover around and maybe even a shower or two as a trough of low pressure hangs around for one more day. Temperatures will start in the mid-to-upper 50s once again, but we’ll warm to just the mid-60s with the cloud cover and a somewhat cooler and drier airmass working its way in.

We hit 74° at the airport on Monday, and we’ll likely do the same — if not even running slightly warmer — on Tuesday as high pressure aloft and at the surface remains in control. We’ll likely start the day with another round of fog, and it might be dense in spots as well, so be ready to allow a little extra time to get to where you’re going. (Unfortunately, the fog horns near the coast might be pretty loud, too.) Lows in the mid-50s — about 15° above normal for mid-December — will warm quickly into the mid-70s once the fog dissipates in the morning. We’ll stay rain-free for one more day, with partly cloudy skies expected. Should be a nice day to spend a little time outside if you can!

A cold front passed through earlier Wednesday will make Thursday a much cooler day despite plenty of sunshine. We’ll start the day in the mid-30s — with temperatures possibly dipping toward freezing in more rural areas — and warm to just the mid-50s in the afternoon despite all the sunshine. The wind won’t be whipping as much Thursday, with speeds generally around 5 MPH expected out of the north and northwest. Overall, it’ll be a seasonably cool day, with temperatures running several degrees below normal.