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If your kitchen is full of bread and milk from Friday’s sleet storm, mild weather this week may prompt a different food selection. Maybe barbecue.
On Friday, Charlotte shivered in temperatures that didn’t rise out of the 20s. Schools closed two hours early. Dozens were hospitalized in traffic wrecks on slick roads.
Forecasters said freezing rain could fall in more than 30 North Carolina counties, from the mountains to the Piedmont, late Sunday to early Monday.
The National Weather Service issued a freezing rain advisory for 32 counties from 9 p.m. Sunday until at least 9 a.m. Monday. The weather service says the counties under the advisory could see a glazing of ice, especially on bridges and overpasses. But in the northern mountains, ice could form on any road.
All that will change quickly. By Tuesday, according to some predictions, temperatures could be in the low 70s in Charlotte, a 50-degree swing in four days.
Wednesday’s temperatures will also be moderate – somewhere in the high 60s, meteorologists say – though there’s a strong chance of thunderstorms.
The temperature spike is caused by what meteorologists call an upper ridge. A high-pressure system of warm air from the south will lock into place above Charlotte on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Scott Krentz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Combined with little cloud cover, the system will increase temperatures significantly.
Thermometers may reach the 70s, but the city is unlikely to reach the record high of 79 set in 2002, Krentz said.
On average, January is the coolest month of the year. And the average temperature for Jan. 29 is 52 degrees.
Things will begin to cool off late Wednesday, when a cold front will begin to move into the Charlotte area.
Monday will be partly sunny with a high of 52. The Associated Press contributed
