Temperature rollercoaster this week

Tuesday's high temperatures in the low to mid-70s around Mecklenburg county were 30º warmer than today's - Wednesday's - maximum will be. In fact, this morning's thermometer readings in the low 40s won't budge much from there. This is all thanks to yet another cold air damming setup courtesy of high pressure over New England. 

Local peeks of blue sky this morning will quickly give way to cloudy skies due to clouds moving in from both the west and the southeast. This is evident on the visible satellite image annotated below (Mecklenburg county is at the green star):

Light rain showers will creep in later today, with any threat of wintry weather remaining well north of the area. That will hold true tonight into Thursday morning as temperatures overnight remain above freezing. Total rain amounts through tomorrow will be scanty, likely totaling less than a quarter-inch in local rain gauges under mostly cloudy skies.

Thursday's temperatures will rise during the day, topping out in late afternoon as the cold air damming wedge gradually pushes northward. The official forecast high is in the low 60s, but the actual maximum could top out in the mid- to upper 50s if "Da Wedge" moves out slower than expected (which would not be unusual). The rain will end tomorrow evening, and Friday then looks to be sunny with highs in the mid-60s.

The weekend weather looks like a "rinse and repeat" of this week's, with Saturday being wet and chilly while Sunday will be dry and warmer. More on those details will be in Friday's blogpost. The temperature rollercoaster is underway!