C’mon Mother Nature! A day after shorts weather, it’s time to drag coats out again

One day after temperatures nearly hit 80 degrees in North Carolina, the National Weather Service has issued a series of freeze warnings and watches that stretch from the foothills into the coastal plain.

“Sub-freezing temperatures” are expected Sunday night into Monday morning and could take a toll on plants and crops that assumed the worst of winter was over, say NWS forecasters.

Temperatures are expected to be nearly 12 degrees below normal in much of the state, say NWS forecasters.

Freeze watches and warnings stretch across “the Piedmont of central North Carolina and the far northern coastal plain” where freezing temperatures are likely tonight, says the NWS.

It’s possible the freezing temperatures could also reach south into Oconee County in South Carolina, said NWS forecasters.

The cold air is tied to a high pressure system that will move out of the Ohio River Valley and across the southern Appalachian mountains tonight, say forecasters.

The high Monday is predicted to be 55-to-56 degrees in most of the state -- 20 degrees lower than Saturday’s high of 77 degrees.

Raleigh will see a low of 32 degrees Sunday night (one degree lower than the Charlotte region) and 33 degrees on Monday.

“Freezing temperatures could kill sensitive vegetation and damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” said the warning. “Outlying areas away from the more common city heat island locations will have the greatest chance of freezing temperatures.”

A chance of precipitation is not expected until Tuesday, so snow and sleet are not part of the predicted freeze up.