Frosty, chilly weather might not be done with us

I've written a couple times that some fairly cold weather won't be too far away from the Carolinas during the month of April, and it will be possible for the chilly conditions to make a brief return to our region.

That's exactly what will take place, according to the computer models, and I might have been optimistic about the "brief" part of the cold weather's return.

There are indications that a full week of below-average temperatures could be headed to the Charlotte region, starting this weekend. There certainly will be a frost threat for higher elevations, and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that locations fairly close to Charlotte might have to deal with frost on a night or two.

Last Thursday afternoon, I was talking with a relative in northeastern Ohio, who told me it was 38 degrees. At the time, my car thermometers was registering 82 in Charlotte.

From late February into early April, weather across most of the East was dominated by a Greenland block (high pressure) that shunted cold air from Canada and Alaska downward into the United States.  That condition has relented but not disappeared.  The cold air has been contained to our north.

But a strong cold front later this week could open the floodgates for the chilly air to surge south again.

While the National Weather Service is predicting morning lows next Sunday and Monday in the lower and mid 40s for Charlotte, some of the computer models are predicting mid and upper 30s. The 30s are certainly likely for morning lows in areas above 2,500 or 3,000 feet.  By the way, afternoon highs over the weekend will probably be in the range of 63, 63 or 64 degrees in the Charlotte area -- despite full sunshine Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

But a number of the computer models show additional surges of chilly air into the Southeast next week, with another particularly cold period around April 25-27.