Clouds will thin out throughout the day Thursday as colder and drier air pours into the area from the northwest. We’ll start the day around freezing, warming to just the mid-40s in the afternoon despite the increasingly sunny skies. The last time we had a high temperature this cold was January 24, when the high was only 47° courtesy of 2″ of snow still on the ground from the 1/22 snowstorm. (The record cold high temperature of 39°, set in 2015, will remain intact, thankfully.)
A cold front that brought showers and a few thunderstorms to the Lowcountry — including a tornado warning for Hilton Head Island — is through the area, and we’ll start Friday on a much cooler note as a result. Expect lows in the low 40s Friday morning, warming only to the upper 50s in the afternoon despite much more sunshine.
A warm front will lift north of the area overnight, scouring out some dense fog and sending much warmer and more humid air into the area ahead of an approaching cold front. Within the warm sector, we’ll start in the mid-50s, warming to the mid-70s early on before a line of showers and maybe a few thunderstorms approaches the area, generally affecting the metro between 10am-4pm. Severe weather is unlikely this far north where instability is a bit more meager, but a rumble of thunder or two with a strong wind gust is still not totally out of the question. You won’t need the rain gear all day, though, as storms should be offshore by evening with the front following thereafter.
Abnormally warm weather continues for Friday and the weekend as warm high pressure continues to rule the roost for a few more days. We will have a front stall out nearby on Friday; while we’ll be on the warm side of the frontal zone, there’s still a risk for some isolated to scattered showers at time especially getting into the afternoon. A rumble of thunder isn’t totally out of the question, either. Despite the slight risk of showers, temperatures should still head into the upper 70s, threatening February 7’s daily record high of 80° set in 2019.
Record warmth will be possible once again Thursday as the wedge of high pressure that cooled us off on Wednesday — highs only topped out around 70° as opposed to 82° the day before — retreats northward as a warm front moves through Thursday morning. This will help disperse the cloud cover throughout the day, and temperatures should respond nicely by heading into the upper 70s. The forecast currently calls for at least tying the record high of 78° set in 2019, so we’ll see how that ends up working out.
We stay well on the warm side of normal as we finally say goodbye to January and welcome February. Friday will be a mostly cloudy and breezy day ahead of a cold front. Despite the cloud cover, warm air pumping in from the south will drive highs back into the 70s in the afternoon. There will be a risk of showers primarily after sunset through the overnight across the metro area. If you have late Friday plans, be ready to possibly run into some rain. Amounts should generally be light as these showers should be booking it, and they should be gone before sunrise Saturday.
The front clears the area Saturday with some drier air moving in, though we should still see highs top out in the low 70s with much more sunshine. Sunday turns a little cooler as winds turn a little more onshore with high pressure wedging southward into the area. Still, expect highs in the upper 60s under partly cloudy skies — not too shabby, especially if we get caught in a classic Groundhog Day temporal loop. Enjoy!
After the warmest day of 2025 so far, in which we reached 72° at the airport and 70° downtown, a dry cold front knocks our temperatures down a few degrees for Thursday, but it’ll still feel quite good outside. Expect mostly sunny skies to help low temperatures in the low-to-mid-40s warm to the mid-60s in the afternoon. An easterly wind at 10 MPH will keep things a touch on the breezy side, but otherwise, no concerns for Thursday.
Snowpack is heading into its third day here in the Lowcountry, with many roads still a little on the sketchy side and black ice being a concern once again overnight Thursday into Friday morning. It’s kept us on the chilly side, too: the high today hit 40° at the airport, while the high of 38° at downtown Charleston was a record cold high temperature for January 23. We’re already back into the 20s as of this writing (8:45 PM-ish) with temperatures expected to fall into the low 20s given much less cloud cover than last night and the continued snowpack. Winds a little more out of the west should kick in on Friday, though, and we should see highs peak in the mid-40s along with more sunshine than we saw Thursday. Still, melting during the day Friday should once again contribute to a black ice threat overnight into Saturday morning, so keep that in mind if you head out.
With plenty of snowpack still on the ground, expect a very, very cold night that should set daily records on Thursday morning as lows could fall to as low as 15°. Mix in the persistent northerly wind and wind chills may fall into the single digits. If you’re headed outside tomorrow morning, be bundling up in lots of layers and be very careful for re-frozen ice on steps, sidewalks, and roads.
Additional cloud cover on Thursday isn’t gonna do us a lot of good in the melting department; highs should once again only peak in the upper 30s with mostly cloudy skies generally expected. Wind will remain a bit of a factor, and it’ll feel like the 20s for much of the daytime period.
Getting into Thursday night, I’d expect another round of refreezing and black ice concerns. If you don’t have to travel, it’s probably best to stay hunkered in one more day.
Friday will offer one more quiet day before an extended unsettled period kicks in starting this weekend, culminating in possible winter weather for the middle of next week.
