Sunny, cooler weekend on tap for Charlotte area
Sunny skies and cooler temperatures are moving into the Charlotte region for the weekend.
Friday will remain mostly cloudy after Thursday’s rains, with an expected high of 57, before yielding to all sunshine Saturday and Sunday.
Temperatures, however, will be much cooler than in recent days, when the mercury stood 10 to 15 degrees above normal.
Saturday’s forecast high is 50 and Sunday’s is 54, with frigid lows of 26 expected early Saturday and 30 early Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C.
Sunday night could turn partly cloudy and Monday mostly cloudy, before a 40 percent chance of rain returns Monday night.
Showers are likely Tuesday and Wednesday, although highs are forecast to climb again, from 57 Monday to 65 Tuesday, 69 Wednesday and a potentially record-tying 71 on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day?
“Anywhere between 69 and 70 would be representative across the Charlotte area,” said Neil Dixon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C.
Christmas Eve’s record high of 71 in Charlotte was recorded in 1982, NWS meteorologist Harry Gerapetritis said.
The record high for Christmas Day is 77, set in 1955, he said.
The normal high for both days is 51.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 5:40 AM with the headline "Sunny, cooler weekend on tap for Charlotte area."