A flirtation with snowy weather early this week

The weather will be sunny but breezy around Mecklenburg county today (Sunday). A cold front pushed through before dawn and finally swept out the remnants of the latest cold air damming (CAD) wedge. Thus today's high will climb to near 60º, but that above-average warmth will be tempered by northwesterly winds gusting up to 20 mph.

Unfortunately yet another CAD setup will arrive on Monday, keeping skies mostly cloudy. Temperatures will top out in the mid-40s as cool moist air from off the Atlantic is ushered in via northeasterly breezes. That cool air wedge will set the stage for a wintry event beginning late Monday night.

The next storm system looks to push into the eastern half of the nation Tuesday, bringing moisture that will interact with the cold air already in place. The freezing temperature line will flirt with Mecklenburg county closely enough that some flakes are expected Tuesday. Here's the official National Weather Service snow accumulation forecast map:

The snow will convert over to liquid rain Tuesday night into Wednesday, with little chance of icing expected as the air mass slowly warms up. The latter part of this work week then looks very damp until Friday.

Note that the proximity of that freezing line will dominate the wintry forecast. A jog of that line north or south only 15-20 miles would make a big difference in the local forecast. Keep checking the situation via the NWS Wakefield website or another reliable weather source (NOT the standard smartphone app!). Don't assume the forecast will remain static.

Meanwhile, Monday's blogpost will be delayed until early afternoon and will take a closer look at the wintry weather forecast.