Thursday's forecast: Subfreezing start, then a brief reprieve before a very cold weekend
Hello everyone, Jared Smith here with your Charleston weather forecast for Thursday, January 18th, 2024, with a look at Friday and a very cold weekend.
Speaking of cold, we get off to a very chilly start once again Thursday morning.
Mostly clear skies and calm winds will set up excellent radiational cooling conditions, which will allow temperatures to fall into the mid to upper 20s across the metro area by Thursday morning.
If you’re among the folks listening on Wednesday evening, be sure your pets are in a safe and warm place, sensitive plants are covered or inside, and you have a faucet dripping.
This is especially important for folks who are living a little further inland from the coast, generally along and west of the 17A corridor.
So Somerville, Monks Corner, Goose Creek, and further inland, you’ll want to make sure you’re taking cold weather precautions.
Fortunately, temperatures will not stay below freezing too much longer after the sun comes up on Thursday.
High pressure slipping offshore, in fact, will allow temperatures to head to the low 60s in the afternoon.
Winds will be increasing, but the rain will hold off until very late, and most of us probably won’t encounter it, and those who do generally will not see much in the way of rainfall to write home about.
Temperatures on Friday start in the low to mid 40s.
The cold front will get through around midday or so, but we should still warm to the low 60s once more as clouds scour out with drier air moving in.
But the chill will start to set in during the evening, setting up a very cold weekend with nasty wind chills.
You’ll want to take cold weather precautions with pets, plants, pipes, and people once again on Friday night, as temperatures should run below freezing for several hours.
We start Saturday morning with air temperatures in the upper 20s, though breezy northwest winds around 10 miles an hour will send wind chills into the upper teens, so get ready for that if you have a Saturday morning run planned.
Temperatures will struggle to the low to mid 40s at best due to the ongoing cold advection, even though it’ll be crystal clear outside with unfettered sunshine.
Saturday night into Sunday morning will feature the most dangerous cold of this Arctic outbreak though.
Temperatures look to fall into the upper teens in the metro area, with temperatures in the low to mid 20s making it all the way to the coast.
Westerly winds will remain elevated, and this could send wind chills down into the single digits by daybreak.
Don’t be surprised if the National Weather Service issues a fairly rare wind chill advisory for the area for Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Cold weather precautions will be a must.
This will be pipe-busting cold for the vast majority of us, including coastal areas.
Insulate exposed pipes, cover outdoor spigots, drip a faucet, and open cabinet doors to allow warmer air to flow towards your indoor plumbing.
Temperatures will once again only warm to the mid 40s on Sunday despite full sunshine, and we’ll have one more night of freezing temperatures in the upper 20s Sunday night into Monday morning, certainly not the deep freeze we’ll experience on Sunday morning, but still quite cold, before temperatures start a warming trend on Monday afternoon.
And then by Wednesday we’re back in the 70s.
Well, because winter in Charleston, right?
And that was Charleston Weather Daily for January 18th, 2024.
I’m Jared Smith.
Visit CHSWX.com anytime for your latest Charleston weather conditions, alerts, and forecast updates.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.