Lead Forecaster Daniel Crawley
Good Saturday to everyone,
We have been monitoring a pattern change for quite a while and the eventual concern for a March frost and freeze. We can now narrow this down to specific days over the next 7-10 days in which farmers, gardeners and etc… need to make preparations for below freezing temperatures.
There are going to be multiple blasts of cold air moving across the United States over the next couple weeks. As you can see on the temperature anomalies some colder than normal air is going to push into the Carolinas and hang around with some brief moderation in-between cold shots…
First Freeze Threat: Tue-Wed (March 14-15)
Strong high pressure is dropping down and will be located across the Plains by Tuesday morning. That high pressure will help push this weekends rain off the east coast. Temperatures that morning will be around freezing across the Foothills/Piedmont and with the high moving east, some impressive cold air advection will take place.
By Tuesday night and early Wednesday High pressure will likely be centered over the Ohio or Tennessee River Valley regions.
This will bring some of the coldest weather in several weeks. Temperatures by Wednesday morning could drop into the mid 20’s across the Foothills and upper 20’s for Piedmont and Upstate South Carolina. This could pose a hazard to early blooming trees, strawberry and peach crops regionally.
Second Freeze Threat: Monday March 20th
While this lies beyond the current 7-Day forecast confidence is fairly high of another cold air intrusion. Surface pressure anomalies indicate that broad high pressure will be across the Midwest around the morning of Monday March 20th. That is highly suggestive of another cold blast moving through raising the threat of another freeze for some.
Summary…
Two focused threats of a freeze over the next ten days, the first being this coming Tuesday-Wednesday and then about five days after that…
This is your forewarning, be prepared!