Bundle up! Temperatures struggle to get above the freezing mark Tuesday

Cold weather will continue to linger around the Triangle Tuesday, with temperatures that will struggle to climb above the freezing mark. Lows on Tuesday morning will be in the teens and WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said that forecasted highs in the low 30s are nearly 20 degrees below normal.

“The mercury has to scratch and claw and find its way up to 33,” he said.

Temperatures will remain cold through Wednesday morning before high temperatures return to the 40s during the afternoon and stick around through Thursday.

“Thursday should almost feel like a sauna at 48 [degrees],” said Fishel.

Despite the mid-week warm-up, winter could return to North Carolina on Friday in the form of snow. Fishel said he is currently watching a system that could bring feet of snow to some parts of the east coast, impacting travel plans for many even if snow does not fall in the Triangle.

“Because it is so far away there is still a lot of uncertain surrounding it in terms of what it’s going to do when it reaches the eastern seaboard,” he said.

Extreme models show as much as 6 inches of snow falling as far down as Roxboro while a mid-level model only has the snow hitting the northwestern corner of the state. Fishel doesn’t believe that the storm will pose a threat to the Triangle, but said he is keeping an eye on it, because it is expected to be so close by.

“Ring now for most of us it looks like a cold, nasty, miserable, despicable rain,” said Fishel.