Sunny yet chilly weather will be the norm for Friday and the weekend with high pressure generally in control.

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.

Temperatures will tumble once again as we head into the weekend as a couple shots of cooler and drier air work their way in. Friday will feature decreasing cloud cover throughout the day as the first round of drier air continues to filter in; expect lows in the upper 40s to around 50° to warm to the mid-60s in the afternoon.

A second, more potent, shot of Arctic air works into the area overnight Friday. We’ll feel it Saturday morning as lows head down into the upper 30s. Ongoing cool advection will keep highs in the low to mid-50s despite plenty of sunshine.

Sunday morning dips below freezing for the first time in a few days, with lows in the upper 20s to around 30° expected away from the coast. Highs will once again struggle and may not make it out of the 40s with more sunshine expected.

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.

After a chilly start Friday, we start to see temperatures warm up more toward mid-December normals heading into the weekend.

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.

We have a few more chilly days in store this week, especially on Friday, as another shot of cool air works its way through the area. (At least it won’t rain!)

A warmer day is on tap Thursday as we sit between one Arctic-sourced high pressure system moving away and another approaching the area that’ll chill us right back out for Friday. We start the day in the upper 30s to around 40°, which will run much warmer than we ran on Wednesday morning after lows in the 20s for much of the area (and even some upper teens in northern Berkeley County!). Temperatures will top out in the low 60s in the afternoon as gusty southwest to westerly winds (perhaps approaching 30 MPH at times) ahead of the next front keep us a little warmer. We should see the front come through with little fanfare other than an uptick in cloud cover, especially in the first part of the day.

We won’t have the best weather on Thanksgiving Day, unfortunately, as a strong cold front moves through the area. It’ll bring with it some gusty winds and eventually some showers and even a few thunderstorms as we get into the afternoon and evening hours. It’ll be a warm and humid day by late November standards, with lows in the upper 50s to around 60° yielding to the mid-70s in the afternoon. This could help provide sufficient instability within a fairly well-sheared airmass to produce a strong to severe thunderstorm or two as the front approaches, with damaging straight-line wind gusts the main concern. The timing for storms appears to be generally between about 2pm-9pm, progressing west-to-east. It’s possible not everyone will see a storm or even any rain, but we just need to keep an eye on the storms that do fire to make sure they behave.

We have a chilly few days ahead as we close out the last work week before Thanksgiving. Friday will start in the upper 30s to around 40°, but factor in the wind, which will still be a bit breezy throughout the day, and it’ll feel closer to freezing as we head to work and school. Temperatures will then struggle to warm to the mid-50s in the afternoon despite full sunshine — a very wintry-feeling day, not so much like what a typical November day looks like.

Winds remain a touch elevated heading into Saturday, which will feature the coldest morning of the set. Expect temperatures to fall into the mid-30s in the metro thanks to continued cool advection and mostly clear skies; with the winds mixing in, it’ll feel more like the upper 20s at times. We’ll see a bit more of a rebound in highs, though, as the core of the coldest air lifts out of the area. Expect highs on Saturday to peak in the low 60s as the airmass begins to moderate. Another chilly start awaits on Sunday, with lows once again dipping into the upper 30s, but we’ll warm to near 70° in the afternoon under mostly sunny skies with a little lighter winds, too.

Looking for rain? It’s not looking likely for the next few days heading into Thanksgiving. We’ll be keeping an eye on a front for the middle of next week, which could kick up some rain chances for mid-to-late week, but it’s certainly not a done deal yet. Stay tuned.