Today's low clouds and chilly temperatures will be replaced by another four-day stretch of nice weather, say meteorologists at the National Weather Service.

Another cool down, with perhaps our coldest temperatures in several weeks, is expected for the weekend, although forecasters say it will be short-lived, like the other cold snaps during this mild winter.

Today's weather is an extension of what the Charlotte area has experienced the past several days -- low clouds, a chilly northeast breeze, and temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Areas just to the south and west of Charlotte were able to break into sunshine and temperatures in the mid and upper 60s Sunday, but that is not the case today. Readings across the western Carolinas are stuck around 50 degrees.

That will end after today, however.

Doug Outlaw, of the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C., said sunshine will return Tuesday, and that will help push temperatures near or slightly above 60 degrees. A few clouds will mix with the sunshine Wednesday, but highs again will be near 60 degrees.

More of the same is predicted for Thursday and Friday, with sunny skies and mid 50s Thursday after the passage of a weak cold front, and highs in the upper 50s Friday.

A stronger push of cold air is expected for the weekend. National Weather Service forecasters are calling for highs in the lower 50s Saturday and Sunday, but some meteorologists, such as those at the Weather Channel, are predicting highs only in the low to mid 40s.

Either way, a return to above-average weather -- with highs again hitting the lower 60s -- is predicted by the middle of next week.