Wind advisory, downpour potential prompts Weather Alert Day for Wednesday

Pack your umbrella - there's a chance of rain multiple days this week. Strong winds in the area will also make Wednesday a WRAL Weather Alert Day.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for parts of central and eastern North Carolina from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Thursday.

Wind gusts up to 45 mph will be possible and could cause power outages.

The rain is here and is likely to continue into the evening, with a 40% chance for scattered showers throughout the afternoon and into the early evening.

Wednesday also brings the chance of rain, with temps soaring to the upper 70s for the high, but also plummeting into the 30s overnight as a cold front moves in.

"Our rain chances are going to slowly increase over the next two days," said WRAL Meteorologist Peta Sheerwood. "A disturbance will bring rain today and another disturbance comes overnight."

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• Tuesday: Partly cloudy with a high of 67 degrees. Scattered showers move in for the afternoon.
• Wednesday: Much warmer! Partly sunny, winds 15-20 mph ahead of a cold front. High of 77.
• Thursday: Partly cloudy, much cooler and a whole lot less humid. Highs in the lower-mid 50s.

70-degree temps, rain on tap this week

Get ready for more 70-degree temperatures this week! Temperatures are expected to soar well above normal this week, rising approximately 20 degrees higher than the seasonal average.

Tuesday's high is 67 degrees. Rain chances will increase slightly for Tuesday, mainly in the afternoon and evening with scattered showers likely.

While it isn't as warm as Monday, according to Kat Campbell, it will be warm all day Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

"We could wake up to temperatures in the 60s Wednesday morning," Campbell said.

Later in the week, we are a bit unsettled and much warmer with highs in the upper 70s by Wednesday. The high Wednesday is 77 degrees -- approaching the record of 81 degrees set back in 2011.

With the warmth brings unsettled weather.

Ahead of a cold front, winds could gust up to 35 mph Wednesday with highs in the upper 70s, and some spots across the Sandhills could see highs in the 80s.

"Rain chances will increase Wednesday evening and night, clearing by daybreak," WRAL meteorologist Peta Sheerwood said. "It looks like Wednesday evening has our best chance for rain."

Highs drop back into the 50s for Thursday and Friday.

"A strong push of northerly winds will move in behind the front," Sheerwood said. "That's going to drop temperatures back into the 50s.

Weekend forecast

Some showers will be possible Friday evening into Saturday morning. The driest day of the weekend will be Sunday.

The weekend will also be warm, with highs in the mid to upper 60s both days.

7-day forecast for central NC

• Tuesday: Partly cloudy, high of 67.
• Wednesday: Much warmer! Partly sunny, winds 15-20 mph ahead of a cold front. High of 77.
• Thursday: Overcast with rain showers at times. High of 54. Chance of rain 60%.
• Friday: Partly cloudy. High of 55.
• Saturday: Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. High of 66.
• Sunday: 30% chance for rain, high of 69.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy skies and mild. Highs in the mid 60s.

Snow drought: Over 756 days without measurable snow at RDU

It's been a winter of discontent for snow lovers.

We have not seen any measurable snow this season and it's not looking like we'll get any. As of Saturday, Feb. 24, we've been 756 days without measurable snow (Jan. 29, 2022 saw .4 inches). This is the third-longest snow drought on record at RDU.

"At this point, the odds of getting snow are quite low," said WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth. "We thought we might get at least some snow this year because it's an El Niño year. Our research showed that we typically get measurable snow during El Niño years."

In previous El Niño runs, we would typically see a warmer-than-normal December with cooler January and February months.

Wilmoth said this El Niño run has been warm and is tied for fourth warmest on record and ninth wettest on record at RDU. So the moisture has been in place, but it hasn't lined up with any cold snaps.

The temperature outlook for early March shows North Carolina seeing above normal temperatures. If that holds, it looks like we could be waiting until next winter for snowflakes.

Eclipse coming up in April!

• April 8 is the date of the next total solar eclipse for North America. We won't see a total eclipse in North Carolina, but lots of people will travel to take it in! Ohio will be the closest spot to drive to from Raleigh for the path of totality.