3/1 North Carolina Weather 6 PM: Clear Skies

Good evening. North Carolina. I'm Aaron Jolly. Seventy five degrees today. Gorgeous. On that porch tonight. Because a backdoor cold front is sliding down from Virginia as we speak. and it's about to pull the rug out from under us. In the next 24 hours. This is classic Carolina. Cold air damming sets up overnight. You might know it as "the wedge." Cool, dense air gets trapped against the mountains while northeast winds crank up. The result? A thirty degree temperature crash by morning. Right now the Piedmont is basking at 75 degrees. Enjoy that sunset. Clouds move in tonight with northeast gusts hitting 22 miles an hour. By dawn you're waking up to 43 degrees. Monday? Raw. Highs only 47 with rain likely after 9 A.M. Over in the Triangle, same story with a twist. A few showers could brush through between 39 degrees and 39 degrees tonight. Then temperatures nosedive to 40 degrees. Monday stays gray with rain possible after 11 A.M. Highs barely scratch 44 degrees. That's the kind of day where your coffee never feels warm enough. Out west, the mountains sit at 70 degrees this afternoon. Tonight drops to 42. Monday brings the heaviest rain of anywhere in the state. Showers roll in by 7 A.M. and stick around through the afternoon. Highs top out at 46 degrees. Now the good news. The wedge hangs around Tuesday with cool highs in the upper 50s. but Wednesday. Everything flips. Highs surge back to 73 degrees. Thursday and Friday push into the upper 70s. and by Saturday we could flirt with 79 degrees. That's near record territory, folks. Spring equinox is still two and a half weeks away, but the warmth isn't waiting. Keep an umbrella in the car for Monday. You'll need it more than you think. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.