This stretch of quiet weather culminates in a sunny and a bit cooler day on Saturday. A front will come through overnight Friday into early Saturday morning, kicking up the winds a little and swinging them around to the northeast. Temperatures Saturday start in the low 40s, but will only warm to about 60° despite nearly cloudless skies during the day.
Sunday will be a different story. We’ll stay on the cool side with strengthening northeasterly winds throughout the day — expect highs to top out in the upper 50s to around 60° in the afternoon — but cloud cover will be on the increase as a storm system approaches from the west. Showers will advance on the area throughout the day, and we should start to see some showers by early afternoon. Rain will pick up later in the day and especially after sunset. As low pressure to the west and high pressure to the northeast continue to butt up against each other, the pressure gradient will pinch and winds will subsequently increase. We should see gusts to 30 MPH by sunset, and this will continue overnight as rain falls. The rain could be heavy overnight; by the time moisture shunts offshore during the day Monday, some spots could receive an inch and a half of rain with even higher amounts. There will even be a risk for some tidal flooding early Monday morning as well, but it should peak well before commute time. Keep an eye on forecast updates as the details become further refined.
After setting a daily high temperature record and tying the monthly high temperature record for January today, we have one more warm day for Saturday before a front brings temperatures back down to earth on Sunday. We start Saturday in the low 60s once again before warming to the mid-to-upper 70s in the afternoon. Scattered showers should be a factor ahead of the aforementioned front, but coverage won’t really amount to much until we get into the overnight as the front moves by. Showers will taper off early Sunday morning, and as cooler and drier air moves in behind the cold front, cloud cover will break up. Temperatures will be held to the mid-to-upper 60s as gusty west winds — perhaps with gusts approaching 30 MPH in the early afternoon — blow into the area. More normal temperatures return for next week, with a stretch of quiet weather expected to close January and start February.
A rather cold weekend lies ahead as Arctic high pressure visits the Lowcountry, especially Saturday night into Sunday, which will require cold weather precautions for the next few nights.
A rather cold day awaits on Wednesday despite full sunshine throughout the day as chilly high pressure builds into the area. Temperatures should fall to the upper 20s in the metro area early Wednesday morning as cold air blows in. Wind chills will bottom out in the low 20s, so be sure to dress accordingly as you head out to work or school. Afternoon highs will struggle to the mid-40s as cold air continues to settle into the area throughout the day. Despite light rain during the day Tuesday, black ice doesn’t look like it will be a factor given that we’ll be drying out very quickly tonight as dewpoints plummet into the 20s.
We’ll dip a little further into the 20s overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning. Temperatures should reach freezing by late evening, and should stay there through sunrise, with roughly an 8-10 hour period of freezing temperatures a decent possibility. It’ll be a good idea to keep a faucet on a drip, make sure pets are in a warm place, and ensure plants are protected. The good news is that the freeze will quickly give way to warmer temperatures Thursday afternoon, with highs expected to peak around 60°. A few showers will be possible in the late afternoon into the evening hours, but very little overall rainfall is expected.
Friday will be the only day in the next few that’ll start above freezing; expect lows in the low 40s in the morning, followed by highs in the low 60s in the afternoon. A cold front will advance through the area roughly midday or so, but the coldest air will be delayed a little bit. Still, expect clouds to scour out as drier air moves in.
Temperatures will be somewhat fickle this week as a series of fronts move through the area. Tuesday will trend on the warm side, with lows around 50° to start the day heading into the low 60s in the afternoon as the first front moves by. A few showers will be possible along and ahead of the front, primarily midday through early evening. They won’t have much moisture to wring out, so expect the showers to be on the light side. From there, temperatures will plummet overnight.
We will most definitely know that a front has come through Wednesday morning. We’ll wake up to subfreezing temperatures across much of the area away from the immediate coast; breezy northwesterly winds will make it feel closer to the low 20s. The ongoing cold advection will prevent temperatures from reaching too far into the upper 40s in the afternoon despite mostly sunny skies.
Thursday gets off to a similarly chilly start (though with less wind, at least) as lows once again head toward around 30° (and likely colder further inland and in rural areas). However, the coldest air will be departing during the day, and temperatures head to around normal in the afternoon, generally running around 60°. The respite from the very cold air continues Friday. We’ll wake up in the low 40s and top out in the upper 50s to around 60° with a few morning showers possible as another front moves by, which brings the coldest air thus far this season into the area for the weekend.
Quieter weather returns to the area for the weekend, and not a moment too soon. We start Saturday in the mid-40s, but a breezy westerly wind will keep temperatures suppressed to the mid-50s despite partly cloudy skies as cool air blows in behind a cold front. Cloud cover decreases overnight and winds calm down, allowing for decent radiational cooling conditions for Sunday morning, when temperatures look to fall back to the mid-30s (and maybe near freezing in more rural areas). It’ll be a brilliantly sunny day, and temperatures will respond nicely, heading into the low 60s in the afternoon. Quiet weather should prevail for much of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, too, with only a few showers possible after sunset; the better risk for rain arrives Tuesday.
Another storm system will impact the area on Friday with gusty winds and some showers and storms in the afternoon and evening hours, with a few pockets of severe weather possible, but certainly not the widespread threat that we saw on Tuesday.
We’ll likely be waking up to rain Saturday morning as a storm system moves through the area. Rain could be heavy at times, with a half-inch to an inch of rain possible in many spots. It’ll be windy, too: gusts to 30-35 MPH will be possible, so batten down the hatches if you have rain-or-shine outdoor events. The bulk of the rain should exit by early afternoon, though guidance does suggest some wrap-around moisture may keep a few showers around through early evening. From there, we should dry out. Temperatures during the day will be as warm as they’ve been so far in the small sample size of 2024: expect lows in the mid-40s to yield to highs near 70° in the afternoon as warm air advects into the area.
Sunday will be a quieter weather day, with cooler and somewhat drier air working into the area in the wake of Saturday’s storm system. Expect to start the day in the mid-40s with breezy westerly winds keeping highs capped to around 60° in the afternoon under a mix of sun and clouds.
Wednesday gets off to a freezing start across the metro area as lows dip into the low 30s away from the warmer coastline thanks to calm winds and mostly clear skies setting up for a good night of radiational cooling. The sub-freezing air doesn’t last long, though, as moisture increases ahead of a storm system that will be traversing the Gulf of Mexico during the day Wednesday. It’ll fling some showers our direction, primarily from late afternoon Wednesday into the overnight and very early Thursday morning.
The storm system clears the area by daybreak Thursday, setting up a couple quiet days of weather. Expect highs in the mid-50s on Thursday and Friday, with an upper 30s start on Thursday before heading back to near the freezing mark on Friday morning.
A nor’easter will make this second-to-last shopping weekend before Christmas a little tricky, with heavy rain, gusty winds, and coastal flooding all coming into play, especially on Sunday.
