A quiet and warm week of weather lies ahead as we go back to work and school for the first time in 2026. Temperatures this week will climb some 10-15° above normal at times, but we should stay just short of any record highs.
The main weather story for the week ahead — including Christmas Day — will be much warmer-than-normal temperatures as high pressure aloft will remain the dominant weather feature across a good bit of the continental US.
The well-advertised cold snap is underway as Arctic air pushes into the area, with air temperatures expected to fall to around 20° in the morning. While the most gusty winds should subside overnight, a 10-15 MPH breeze out of the north will continue to drive wind chills down well into the teens, with the potential for some brief sub-10° readings as well. A Cold Weather Advisory will run until 10am Monday to cover the most bitter cold, but it will still be a very chilly day with highs struggling to break 40° under mostly sunny skies. Winds will be slackening a little throughout the day, but still should be elevated enough to make it feel more like the mid-30s. Layer up and ensure pets, pipes, plants, and people are protected.
After a rare dreary weekend, the sun will slowly return to our skies on Monday — generally in fits and starts, with some overcast periods in there as well — before more doggedly reasserting itself on Tuesday as high pressure builds in behind a dry front. After another front and maybe a few showers Friday, temperatures look to plunge for the weekend.
Much-needed rain and below-normal temperatures are in store for the week ahead as a series of fronts affect the area. We’ll also see the risk for some tidal flooding in the mornings beginning Tuesday courtesy of the upcoming full moon.
We’ll start Thanksgiving week out on an unseasonably warm note, but a temperature correction is incoming starting Thanksgiving Day as a strong cold front moves by. We’ll have a couple more slight rain chances, but overall, we’ll be largely dry as drought conditions continue to creep further into the Lowcountry.
After a cold front brings a brief cooldown to the area on Monday, temperatures return to the 70s on Tuesday before heading well above normal for the balance of the week ahead with little rain in sight.
A strong cold front will bring about the first freeze of the season overnight Monday into Tuesday as a highly anomalous intrusion of Arctic air pushes southward. The winter preview will be short-lived, thankfully, but it will be impactful as the growing season almost certainly will end Tuesday morning.
The week ahead looks generally quiet and increasingly warm, especially as we get into late week and the first part of the weekend, but nothing too out of bounds for early November. Coastal flooding will become an issue beginning Tuesday as favorable winds and the highest astronomical tides of the season coincide, though.