For those awaiting winter's official arrival: We salute you

That's right...the beginning of astronomical winter is upon us today. The solstice occurs this Sunday morning at 10:03, when Sol's (our sun) apparent motion reaches its extreme southern extent. The Earth's tilt of 23.5º from the vertical makes this happen as shown in this graphic:

Weather-wise it won't feel like the beginning of winter this week. Although another cold front is due through Mecklenburg County today, the air mass behind it isn't overly chilly. Temperatures will rebound from this morning's lows in the 30s to reach afternoon highs in the upper 50s. As that boundary approaches and moves through the area cloud cover will increase and a northwest breeze will kick in.

The remainder of Christmas week looks to be mostly dry, albeit with a slight chance of showers during the first half of Tuesday as an upper level short wave trough passes through. No truly cold air masses are due into the area despite a couple more cold front arrivals. Afternoon highs will range from the upper 40s Monday to over 60º from Wednesday into the weekend. Those temperatures are well above the average for the latter half of December.