After warm Monday, clouds and rain arrive for middle of work week

Normal temperatures this time of year are in the low 50s, but warm air settled over the area during the weekend and will stay put on Monday.

"It's going to be another gorgeous day today," WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said. "We'll be in the mid-60s by lunchtime, and even during the late afternoon we'll be near 70 degrees."

Temperatures will dip into the upper 40s and low 50s overnight and into Tuesday, but a cold front that will dip through the state will keep daytime highs from climbing much on the second day of the work week.

Groundhogs in North Carolina have a good chance of missing their shadows on Tuesday thanks to cloud cover.

"We've got a complex system that will impact us in the next 48 hours," Gardner said. "A cold front will dip south through the state today, which will keep us cooler on Tuesday, and then it will come back through the state as a warm front for Wednesday."

The warming trend will push daytime highs Wednesday back into the upper 60s, but an additional system expected to arrive in the state by midweek will create a wet day.

Some parts of the Triangle could see thunderstorms on Wednesday, Gardner said.

"It's definitely going to be warm again on Wednesday, but it will also be wet," she said. "We have a good chance of rain. We could see between a half inch of rain in the west to up to 2 inches in the east."

By Thursday, February-like weather will return and linger through the weekend.

Highs Thursday, Friday and through Super Bowl weekend will be in the low 50s.