Raleigh, N.C. — A mild and mostly sunny weekend is on tap for holiday shoppers, high school football fans and others getting out and about.

"We had a lot of sunshine today," said WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth. "It was beautiful today with temperatures way above normal, in the 60s. We have some 70s in the forecast. It's amazing. It's December."

December dawned Saturday at about 40 degrees, but by noon it had topped 60 degrees. Saturday's high topped out around 65 degrees in Raleigh, Wilmoth said.

Gradual and significant warming will push temperatures toward the 70-degree mark over the next four days, according to WRAL meteorologist Mike Moss.

That's about 12 degrees warmer than the average daytime high for Dec. 1 in Raleigh despite the fact that Dec. 1, 2011, also saw a 70-degree reading.

The atmosphere across central North Carolina will remain fairly dry over the next couple of days, and any clouds will be patchy but not widespread.

Even the nighttime temperatures will not feel particularly wintry. By Monday, it will only cool down into the 50s, Moss said.

The next cold front moves into the area Wednesday and could bring some sprinkles. "That's a very slight chance, only 10 to 20 percent," Moss said.