81 degrees expected in Charlotte Wednesday
The Charlotte region is expected to reach 81 degrees under sunny skies Wednesday afternoon, 18 degrees above normal.
The unseasonably warm weather is forecast to gradually cool as the week moves on, however.
Highs should drop to 74 Thursday and 68 Friday, before falling to below-normal highs of 59 Saturday and 52 Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C.
The normal high for March 16 is 63 degrees.
Thursday and Friday should remain mostly sunny.
Saturday has a 40 percent chance of rain and Sunday a 50 percent chance, as a center of low pressure moves along the Southeast coast.
Sunshine should return Monday and Tuesday, with forecast highs of 57 and 64.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 5:52 AM with the headline "81 degrees expected in Charlotte Wednesday."