3/3 North Carolina Weather 6 AM: 43° Above Normal

Good morning. North Carolina. I'm Aaron Jolly. Step outside and you'll feel it. Forty degrees. Gray sky pressing down like a lid. That's cold air damming, folks. Cool air is wedged against the mountains while high pressure off New England pins it in place. The wedge weakens today. But those clouds? They're not going anywhere. In the next 24 hours. The Piedmont pushes to 62 degrees with light southeast breezes. Nothing dramatic. Just a gray, mild afternoon. Tonight, patchy fog creeps in after 3 A.M. As lows settle near 49. Over in the Triangle, you're a touch cooler. High near 59 under that same stubborn overcast. Fog thickens toward dawn. Lows around 49 there too. Now the mountains get the better deal. Partly sunny skies and a high near 62 degrees. You might actually see your shadow. Gusts could hit 18 miles an hour on the ridges. Fog patches develop after 4 A.M. With lows dropping to 43. Here's where it gets interesting. Wednesday, that wedge collapses. Morning fog burns off by 8 A.M. and temperatures launch into the mid 70s statewide. Seventy four in the Piedmont. Seventy five in the Triangle and mountains. That's a fifteen degree jump in one day. And that's just the opening act. Thursday through Saturday, highs climb into the upper 70s and low 80s. We're talking 43 degrees to 43 degrees above normal. Record territory. Enjoy it, because rain chances return Sunday as a front slides in from the northwest. One more thing tonight. That full moon rises at sunset, but clouds will fight it most places. Best chance to see it? Out west where the skies break. And spring equinox is just two weeks away. We're gaining over two minutes of daylight every single day. Charge your phone, set the alarm. And dig out your shorts for later this week. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.