Break out your list of adjectives for cold weather.
Some of the coldest weather the region has seen in five or 10 years is on its way as an arctic air mass settles into the region. The National Weather Service warns that temperatures could be 10 to 20 degrees below normal, flirting with records, said James Oh, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
“It is going to be really cold,” Oh said, adding that this particular blast of cold originated in Siberia and Canada. The blob of arctic air will slide so far south that even places like Florida are going to feel the chill.
In Rowan County, freezing rain or snow are possible Sunday and into Monday. The daily highs will be in the 40s, with nightly lows around freezing.
And then the real cold arrives.
By Monday, daily highs will be in the 30s with lows in the teens and 20s next week. The average is high in January is 49 with average lows of about 30.
The coldest night is likely going to be Tuesday, when the record low is 5 degrees. The forecast low is 14.
The record low for January is -11, set on Jan. 28, 1940.
Just to taunt us with memories of warmth, the record high temperature is 82, set on Jan. 15, 1937.
Oh said that the upside of next week a warming trend will begin Wednesday and go through the end of the week.