Precipitation has ended across the Lowcountry after an eventful night of winter weather. Snow totals are coming in and a more complete analysis will be doable later today. For now, though, it’s quite cold, and will stay that way for much of the day with so much sleet/snow cover. Cloud cover will clear out, which may be the only thing that gets us back above freezing this afternoon for a brief period. Anything that melts will likely re-freeze, though, promoting a black ice risk across the area especially on bridges and overpasses. (We have a few days of this ahead, too.) If you don’t have to travel, don’t — quite a few roads, including the Ravenel Bridge, Ashley River bridges, and the Northbridge are closed to traffic. Monitor local media for updates on roads throughout the day — and try to have a little fun, too!
Arctic air will be spilling into the area for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, bringing the first of several cold days to the Lowcountry. This one will at least come with some sunshine, but even despite that, highs only peak in the low 40s after an upper 20s start. Factor in the wind chill and it’ll feel closer to 20° in the morning, and like the 30s for the balance of the day. Layers will be necessary on Monday and for the next several days as the cold airmass takes residence.
Showers will be ending by early Sunday afternoon as a cold front sweeps through the area later in the day, the forerunner to a much colder Arctic airmass that will arrive overnight Sunday into Monday, setting up a period of impactful winter weather starting Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures on Sunday will be as warm as they will be for the forecastable future, with highs peaking in the mid-60s early in the afternoon after a start near 50° before falling off post-frontal passage later in the afternoon. We’ll get some peeks of sun as we head through the afternoon and early evening before sunset as much cooler and drier air filters into the area behind the front.
We remain on track to have a relatively quiet but cold day of weather on Monday before winter weather in the form of freezing rain and snow starts to affect the area beginning Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. I’ll have a more in-depth look at this with Sunday evening’s post as we start to get more of the high-resolution data in, but long story short, we’re quite possibly going to see the most impactful winter weather in the area since 2018 this week. Stay tuned!
We start Thursday in the upper 20s to low 30s across the metro, but temperatures will ultimately end up a few degrees warmer than Wednesday under mostly sunny skies. This will be the second to last day of generally quiet weather before an unsettled period begins this weekend and lasts into next week, which will turn very cold and perhaps somewhat interesting winter weather-wise, too.
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.
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.
