Cold Nights: At Least 1 to Go

Very "non-April" weather was predicted to hold on through Monday night before things warm up to normal.

Posted 10:07 p.m. Apr 8, 2007 — Updated 2:24 p.m. Feb 29, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — Unseasonably cold weather promised to hang onto the Triangle through Monday night, forecasters said Sunday, with a low below freezing expected by daybreak Monday and a low just above freezing on tap for Tuesday morning.

Most counties were under freeze warnings again overnight Sunday, adding stress to plants that had to handle atypical weather over previous nights. The predicted Monday night temperatures were expected to knock out state Department of Transportation plans to begin the repaving of Interstate 40 at 8 p.m.

Tar Heels were not alone in their shivering Sunday. Across much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation, Easter celebrants swapped frills, bonnets and sandals for coats, scarves and heavy socks. Baseball fans huddled in blankets and, instead of spring planting, backyard gardeners were bundling their crops.

Continued cold Monday ought not to be a surprise for Triangle residents. Several National Weather Stations reported record low temperatures on Sunday. At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, both the overnight low and daytime high on Sunday were about 15 degrees below normal.

Atlanta had a low of 30 degrees Sunday, with a wind chill of 23, the National Weather Service said. The same reading hit New York City's Fifth Avenue, celebrated in song for the traditional Easter Parade of spring finery.

Monday was expected to be less windy than the weekend in North Carolina, reducing the danger that accidental fires could spread rapidly, but low humidity was expected to continue, the Weather Service said. On Sunday, officials had posted fire warnings in counties throughout central and eastern North Carolina.

People headed out in new Easter outfits Sunday needed warm layer. Record lows occurred in the Triangle, and at Greensboro, Wilmington, Asheville and North Myrtle Brach, S.C. Charlotte set a record low for Saturday just before midnight as the cold air got there a bit earlier.

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the thermometer read 27 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday morning, a degree below the 1975 record. In Greensboro, 25 degrees broke the 1990 record of 28. Wilmington got down to 29 degrees, four below the 1972 record.

Asheville set a record for the second day in a row, with 22 degrees on Sunday and 20 degrees on Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. Saturday also was a snowfall record for any date in April, with 1.2 inches on the ground.

At North Myrtle Beach, the Sunday morning low of 29 was 1 degree below a record that had stood since 1950.

In the city of Chardon, Ohio, east of Cleveland, about 16 inches of snow had fallen, and forecasters predicted the region could get another 10 inches before the storms tapered off late Sunday. Temperatures were expected to remain unseasonably cold through much of the week.

The Cleveland Indians tried all weekend to kick off their series against the Seattle Mariners, but were stymied when the weather forced Friday's home opener and subsequent double headers on Saturday and Sunday to be postponed.

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