Moderation is this week's weather word

Low temperatures around the county this Monday morning were in the low 30s, which is higher than some daily highs last week(!). The official thermometer readings occurred just after midnight. A southwesterly wind then kicked in, ushering in warmer and moister air throughout the pre-dawn hours.

A cold front creeping south and east will take its sweet time to clear the area. Meanwhile weak upper air disturbances will keep skies partly to mostly cloudy over the county much of Monday. The nearest rain looks to remain south of the I-40 corridor in North Carolina. Afternoon highs locally will top out in the low 50s, just about average for this point in January.

After dark that system will finally move out and skies will clear. Since the air behind this boundary isn't very cold Tuesday's temperatures will resemble today's, with morning lows near freezing and afternoon highs in the mid-50s. Westerly breezes will be a bit more vigorous tomorrow, with gusts up to 20 mph.

Wednesday then looks to be the warmest day in quite a while, with local thermometers soaring into the mid-60s. Conditions won't remain THAT warm for long, but overall a moderation in temperatures is expected to last for a while. Here's the temperature outlook for the first week in February:

Remember, the warmer colors indicate probabilities (remember statistics?) of temperatures being above average, not the actual temperature themselves. But since February typically begins a warmup as spring approaches the odds are good that the frigid Arctic air won't return anytime soon.