Enter Winter

For those who've been craving REALLY cold weather...it's here! An Arctic cold front passed through Mecklenburg County just before 4:30 this Sunday morning. High temperatures for the day occurred just after midnight, with most thermometers registering the low 40s. Those values will drop to the mid-30s by lunch time, continuing their downward trend the rest of today before bottoming out in the teens by dawn Monday.

Behind the boundary winds have swapped around out of the northwest and will gust up to 30 mph later today. The resulting wind chill values prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Cold Weather Advisory, which will be in effect from 7:00 p.m. this evening until 9 o'clock Monday morning. A quick reminder of the effects of the wind on the human body is shown here:

The good news? This wintry blast won't last long. Monday looks to be the coldest day of the work week with afternoon highs only in the mid-30s. However, sunshine and much lighter winds will combine to mitigate tomorrow's chill. The core of the colder air will then lift northeast, and by midweek high temperatures will climb back into the 50s, right at the December average.

At the moment indications are that this warmer interlude will last through the end of the month. But don't count out Old Man Winter yet!