Rain rolls in after record-breaking warm weather

According to the National Weather Service, the high at Raleigh-Durham International Airport reached 78 degrees at 1:31 p.m., breaking the record of 75 degrees on Dec. 22, 1967.

Fayetteville hit a high temperature of 81 degrees at 2:59 p.m. – breaking a 75-dgree record set in 2011 – and Raleigh reached 77 degrees at 12:51 p.m.

Normal highs for this time of the year are in the 50s.

But don't expect the temperatures to last.

The warm air is due to a huge cold frontal system that dumped snow in parts of the Midwest and brought severe weather to Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The system will bring cooler temperatures to North Carolina this week along with possible heavy rain and wind gusts across central and eastern North Carolina Sunday evening and into Monday.

Temperatures will reach the upper 60s Monday morning before dipping into the upper 50s by the afternoon.

Christmas Eve and Christmas will be dry with colder highs in the upper 40s on Tuesday and lower 40s Wednesday.

The warmest day on record for all of December was Dec. 10, 2007, when the temperature reached 81 degrees at RDU. The warmest December day in recorded history in Fayetteville was 86 degrees on Dec. 20, 1931.