COLUMBIA, S.C. — This will be an interesting weather week here in South Carolina. We will go from seeing near-record high temperatures to likely our first widespread freeze in just a few days.
Let's start with the weekend. Sunday will begin pretty mild before getting quite warm in the afternoon. Highs will likely push the middle 80s in the afternoon, a degree or two from our recorded high for the day. This warm weather is thanks to an area of high pressure over the southeast that continues to bring warm, southerly wind into the region.
This weather will persist into Monday, where once again, we can expect unseasonable warmth with highs in the middle 80s across the region.
Meanwhile, while we see all this warm weather, a pretty cold air mass has set up over the central US. The Denver area in Colorado is expecting to see its first major snowstorm of the year. This cold air will eventually push east, bringing us the first chance of a freeze in South Carolina.
The big day for this change will fall right on Halloween. Our morning will likely be mild, starting in the middle 50s and getting up to the upper 60s by midday when the front is expected to move through. We could see a few showers but nothing too much.
As for trick or treating on Halloween evening, things will get very cold fast! The late afternoon should be in the mid-60s, but by 7 p.m., we will be in the 40s with wind making it feel even colder. My advice would be to get out earlier if you can that night!
Past Tuesday, things will be pretty cold for this time of the year. Morning lows will likely be in the 30s through Friday, with highs struggling to get into the 50s on Wednesday afternoon. Right now, Thursday morning looks the coldest, with Columbia likely reaching 31 degrees.
If you are not a fan of this colder weather, you won't have to wait too long. We will likely be back into the 70s for highs going into next weekend.