Cooler Mornings Ahead

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A secondary, dry cold front is dropping south across the Triangle this evening. The air mass behind this front is the coldest of the season so far with min temps tomorrow night likely to drop to the lowest levels so far this fall, dipping to the low and middle 40s here in the triangle.

A shield of high clouds associated with Milton will drift northeast across much of the viewing area tonight into Thursday, before shifting offshore later Thursday.

Friday will be dry and seasonable as the center of the chilly air mass drifts on east through the Carolinas. A nice warming trend will set in over the weekend as this high shifts off the east coast. By Sunday, afternoon highs should have no trouble reaching the low 80s.

A strong cold frontal passage will take place Monday and be followed by the chilliest air mass of the season so far. The cold frontal passage is moisture starved so don't expect any showers, but there will be at least some cloud cover Monday afternoon into Tuesday. The coldest night next week will be Tuesday night as skies begin to clear. Some of the normally colder spots in the western mountains are likely to have their first frost of the season next Wednesday morning. As the center of this chilly air mass shifts off the east coast later next week, a strong warming trend will set in the second half of next week and continue into next weekend.

Tropical Discussion: After historic and very impressive rapid intensification by Milton on Monday, a slight reduction in wind speeds occurred as it became a category 4 hurricane early Tuesday. After completing an eyewall replacement cycle, Milton quickly restrengthened back to category 5 status, and remained at this intensity into early Wednesday morning. Then as expected, wind shear has begun to weaken Milton some this afternoon and it will likely be a borderline high end Cat 3 or low end Cat 4 at landfall around 11 pm this evening. The landfall point will be close to the south end of Tampa Bay. A life-threatening storm surge, winds, and rainfall are all expected for many areas of the western Florida coastline tonight. Milton is expected to maintain hurricane intensity as it moves east to northeast across Florida later tonight into Thursday.

Have a great evening!

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