Temperatures will be below normal in the Triangle this week. Will we see snow?
If you haven’t done so already, this week will be the time to break out your winter coat in the Triangle — and you’ll need to keep it handy for about two weeks.
As we head into the Christmas holidays and ring in the new year, forecasters with the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office are confident that the Triangle will see between seven and 14 days of below-normal temperatures, NWS senior meteorologist Brandon Locklear told The News & Observer.
As of Monday morning, the NWS forecast for Raleigh shows high temperatures through Friday, Dec. 23, hovering around the mid-to-upper-40s, with lows throughout the week near or below freezing. By Saturday and Sunday, Christmas Eve and Day, respectively, high temperatures will be even colder, topping out in the mid-30s.
Those temperatures are considerably cooler than what the Triangle typically sees during this time of year, Locklear said, with normal high temperatures generally being around 52 to 55 degrees between late December and early January.
Curious about what’s causing the upcoming cold temperatures? If we’ll see snow as part of the colder weather?
Here’s what to know.
What is causing below-normal temperatures in the Triangle?
Locklear said Friday the cold temperatures coming to the Triangle over the next couple of weeks are being driven by a “very strong” low pressure system “diving and digging out of Canada.”
“That’s allowing that cold air to come down to, basically, most of the central and eastern United States,” Locklear told The N&O.
Locklear said the cold temperatures will likely stick around for “the next several days,” which may be longer than cold fronts most people in the Triangle are used to experiencing.
“Usually in the wintertime, we get a cold front that comes through, and it’s a day or two where temperatures are chilly and cool, and then it warms up,” Locklear said. “So, you’re talking about people wearing heavy winter coats for a day or two, and then as you warm up a little bit, you might be just thinking you can get away with a lighter jacket or sweater. But that doesn’t look to be the case, for the most part, for the next seven to 14 days.”
Locklear said we can expect mornings during that time to be “very cold,” with high temperatures hovering in the 40s.
“That’s going to be the thing that’s a little bit unusual here,” Locklear said, “that for about two weeks it’s going to be below normal and chilly.”
Will upcoming cold temperatures bring snow to the Triangle?
When temperatures dip so low in the Triangle, it tends to raise the question of whether we’ll see snow or other forms of precipitation, such as sleet or freezing rain.
As of Monday morning, the NWS forecast shows fairly high chances for some precipitation between Wednesday night and Friday morning, but Locklear said Monday the chances of it turning to frozen forms are low, and will depend on how cold it is at various points.
When the rain begins Wednesday, “it could be cold enough across the area to see some very light mix of some sleet, rain, maybe a little snow,” Locklear said.
But Thursday, with a forecasted high in the mid-50s, will just bring rain — and lots of it.
“We’re looking at rainfall amounts of one to two inches,” Locklear said. “So it’s gonna be a very wet day on Thursday.”
When the “really cold air” moves in on Friday, there’s another small chance that we could see frozen precipitation, Locklear said.
“When that comes into our area Friday afternoon, or Friday morning out west, that’s really going to be our only chance if we’re going to see any potential snow,” Locklear said. “It’s going to be a very brief period, but as that cold air comes in, and before the precipitation clears out, that it could briefly change over to some snow.”
And even if we do see snow on Friday, there most likely won’t be any major impacts from it. The strongest impacts in the Triangle Friday will be strong winds, which could reach 35 to 45 miles per hour, and the low temperatures, which will reach the teens or even single digits in some areas, Locklear said.
“It’s looking like, yeah, it might be cool to see snowflakes at this point,” Locklear said. “But right now, we’re not expecting any impacts in terms of snow or accumulations.”
Check National Weather Service forecasts
Want to keep up with the National Weather Service’s Raleigh forecasts as the cold front moves in? Visit weather.gov/rah.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Temperatures will be below normal in the Triangle this week. Will we see snow?."
