Raleigh, N.C. — The week is off to a gray, chilly, damp start, but conditions will warm up by the opening of the North Carolina State Fair on Thursday, WRAL meteorologist Nate Johnson said.

A cold rain swept across the Triangle Monday morning and afternoon, keeping temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s.

"It feels more like January than October right now," Johnson said, noting that the 48-degree noon temperature at Raleigh-Durham International Airport was only 2 degrees above the temperature in Asheville.

"This is curl-up-and-take-a-nap weather if I've ever seen it," he said. "It's every bit as nasty outside as it looks."

An elevated layer of unstable air produced some lightning and thunder, but Johnson said the cold air near the ground lessened the chance of severe weather Monday afternoon.

Temperatures in the Triangle were expected to remain in the low to mid-50s on Monday, and the upper-level disturbance guaranteed overcast skies and a continued chance of showers throughout the afternoon.

The Triangle should dry out Tuesday, when the clouds will begin moving out, but temperatures won't rise much beyond 60 degrees, Johnson said. Temperatures will spike to the upper 70s on Wednesday in "a peach of a day" before settling into the upper 60s to mid-70s for a dry opening weekend to State Fair.