We are back into cooler weather on Thursday in the wake of a cold front which will sweep through the area overnight. We’ll start the day in the mid-40s with a bit of a westerly breeze that’ll stay persistent throughout the day. Clouds will be few and far between, but the ongoing influx of cold air will keep highs pinned into the upper 50s. Overall, though, a rather nice if not slightly-cooler-than-normal January day lies ahead.
Wednesday could be a busy weather day here in the Lowcountry as a very dynamic storm system moves into the eastern half of the continental US, dragging a cold front through the Southeast throughout the day with showers and thunderstorms ahead of it.
There’s not too much to write home about in the weather department for Tuesday. We’ll get off to a near-freezing start in the metro area, with temperatures dipping below 32° further inland as well as in more rural spots. Plenty of sunshine, though, will help drive temperatures to around 60° in the afternoon. Overall, a bright, brilliant late January day.
Sunday will be an active weather day across the area as a somewhat complex storm system moves through the Southeast US. Needed rain will fall throughout the day, but some of that rain might be heavy at times near a morning high tide that would cause flooding on a sunny day.
Thursday will be quite a warm day ahead of a cold front that will swing through late night/early Friday morning. We’ll start the day some 15+° above normal as lows only bottom out in the mid-50s. Temperatures will head into the mid-70s in the afternoon, with some upper 70s possible in spots.
It’ll be a bit of a windy day: expect winds to kick up to 15-20 MPH sustained with gusts 25-30+ MPH particularly in the afternoon hours. Higher speeds will be possible on bridges, and a Lake Wind Advisory is in effect for Lake Moultrie tomorrow as well. Hold on to your hats and steering wheels if navigating the bridges is in your travel plans tomorrow.
There will be a slight chance of showers as the front gets closer Thursday evening. Some of the high-res guidance sparks some additional showers as a remnant boundary ahead of the front itself perhaps intersects a seabreeze, but widespread heavy rain is not expected and no thunderstorms are forecast.
We have another round of subfreezing lows ahead for tonight, with clear skies and calm winds allowing temperatures to fall to the low 30s to start the day away from the warmer coastline. It won’t be a terribly long-duration freeze, but regardless, make sure pets are in and plants are covered again tonight.
After that chilly start on Monday, we’ll see temperatures head into the low 60s in the afternoon as shortwave ridging aloft and more southerly winds kick in. We’ll see an increase in high clouds as the day goes on, but overall, expect plenty of sunshine for any outdoor Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorations.
Tuesday will start a little cooler as light winds and a decent period of clear skies should allow lows to drop into the upper 30s. High pressure will continue to exert itself across the area during the day, with highs heading into the low 60s under mostly sunny skies. Otherwise, there’s not much to write home about weather-wise: We stay with fair weather through Wednesday, and our next rain chance arrives late Thursday before a cold front cools us off for what will otherwise be a quiet weekend of weather.
Expect quieter weather for Thursday — and into Friday and the weekend — as a cold front gets through early in the morning. We’ll start the day well above normal with lows bottoming out in the upper 50s. Clouds will scour out post-frontal passage and some cooler air will begin to filter into the area. Temperatures, however, should still be able to reach around 70° in the afternoon for one final time in this warm spell. We’ll turn much cooler as we head into Friday, when highs should only top out in the upper 50s — in other words, Thursday’s lows are Friday’s highs!
Wednesday will be another mild day, with temperatures running in the mid-70s ahead of a storm system which will turn the afternoon and evening hours unsettled with the risk of a strong storm or two.
Tuesday looks to start much in the same fashion as the past few days: at a minimum, patches of fog, potentially dense with visibility below ¼ of a mile at times, should develop overnight and should persist into mid-morning. As of this writing, a Dense Fog Advisory is in effect for Charleston County and Berkeley County around Cainhoy and Daniel Island through 10am. If fog does indeed persist and even expand, you’ll want to be sure to allow extra following distance and use low beams so that other drivers can more readily see you.
Once the fog mixes out, partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies will kick back in, and temperatures should respond by heading into the mid-70s by afternoon (sticking closer to the low-to-mid-60s near the coast, though, given much cooler shelf waters). Clouds should be on the increase in the evening as our next storm system approaches from the west.