Warm air arrives, but lake waters remain chilly

After yet another March cold snap today - Monday - begins a significant warmup. After mild morning lows at or near 50 degrees warm air will pour into Mecklenburg County via gusty southwesterly winds. An upper air disturbance will bring shower chances to northern parts of Virginia today, but locally skies will be mostly sunny with no rain expected. Afternoon highs will climb into the low 70s.

Those gusty southerly breezes will continue throughout tonight and tomorrow. Thermometer readings at dawn Tuesday will be in the upper 50s before boosting to the 80º mark under sunny afternoon skies. Dew points will also rise considerably tomorrow, bringing noticeably higher humidity resulting in less static electricity.

Daily highs in the 80s look to be the rule for the remainder of the week. However, water temperatures of Buggs Island Lake / Kerr Reservoir will lag behind since water is much slower to warm up than the ground or the air. This graphic shows the lake temperature trend (left panel) along with a cautionary note about colder water (right panel):

Boaters and fisherfolk eager to take advantage of this warmer weather should be mindful of the hazards associated with the colder waters.