A hard freeze is coming to Raleigh & central NC. When it’s expected, how to prepare

A cold front moving in this weekend is expected to bring below-average temperatures into the start of Christmas week, forecasters say.

How cold will it be this weekend?

The National Weather Service says a cold front moving into North Carolina on Friday, Dec. 20, will bring scattered showers and isolated storms, followed quickly by a rush of cold air that will hang around through Monday.

The low Friday night in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill will be around 33 degrees and the high on Saturday will reach about 48 degrees. Saturday marks the Winter Solstice , the beginning of winter, and it will chilly with a north wind of 6 to 10 mph with gusts up to 18 mph.

Saturday night, lows across Central and Eastern North Carolina will reach down to 24 degrees — as much as 12 degrees below average for December — as Arctic air builds into the region, the Weather Service says. Some areas could see lows in the high teens.

Winds will calm considerably Saturday night.

Even colder on Sunday

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