The back half of January is the coldest time of the year in the Carolinas on average; while warmer temperatures have arrived to close out the workweek, a bitter chill lies ahead. Enjoy the sunny 40s and 50s this Friday afternoon while they last. The near-average temperatures continue into the weekend, but the sunshine will not as a rainmaking system approaches from the west. Rain chances begin to rise overnight as the WCCB Charlotte viewing area wakes up to scattered showers Saturday morning. While the weekend gets off to a wet start, don’t expect Saturday or Sunday to be washouts. In fact, most locations remain dry for a vast majority of the time between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening as the area of low pressure passes through. The Piedmont and Foothills can expect mostly cloudy skies and a few passing showers with highs near 50° for both weekend days. A stray shower (or even a flurry) may roll along I-40 and northward Sunday night as the moisture exits to the northeast. Northwesterly flow in the mountains could rack up a few inches of snow in the High Country through Monday night. While this incoming system won’t bring much in terms of rain – most locations remain under a quarter-inch – it will open the floodgates for bitterly cold air to spill into the Carolinas. Lows will drop like a rock Sunday night as many wake up to the teens and single-digits Monday morning. Highs will struggle to get above freezing Monday afternoon as Arctic air filters in from the northwest. The next few nights may be among the coldest we’ve seen over the past three years, dating back to Christmas 2022. Wind chills in the High Country will end up well below zero Monday and Tuesday nights, with dangerous cold lingering into Wednesday. We’ll also want to watch for any approaching moisture from the southwest; while models have been trending drier for the western Carolinas recently, any storm system arriving between Tuesday and Thursday will likely bring wintry weather back to the Piedmont. Today: Cool sunshine. High: 54°. Wind: S 5-10. Tonight: Clouds build. Scattered showers late. Low: 40°. Wind: SE 5-10. Saturday: AM scattered showers. PM isolated showers. High: 52°. Wind: SW 5-10. Saturday Night: Cloudy with a few showers. Low: 45°. Wind: Light. Sunday: A few showers early, then clearing later in the day. High: 50°. Wind: NW 5-15.