Raleigh, N.C. — WRAL meteorologists predicted that "a nice couple" of days, with mild temperatures and a lot of sunlight, will start the week off and be followed by showers and thunderstorms Tuesday.

An upper-level ridge dominated over the eastern seaboard Sunday and will continue to drift slowly over the region throughout Monday.

"It looks like a lot of us have a chance to get up into the upper 60s and low 70s ... for a pretty comfortable start to the week," Mike Moss said.

Temperatures in Raleigh had risen to 59 degrees Sunday afternoon.

Monday will stay mostly sunny, but grow partly cloudy as the afternoon wears on. Southerly breezes will help raise the temperatures for a high around 70 degrees.

Tuesday will also be warm, with a high of 72 degrees, but a cold front will bring the opportunity for rain later in the day.

"We'll have a cold front that's moving into western North Carolina," Moss said. "Out ahead of that, there may be a couple light sprinkles or showers on occasion Tuesday, but the main band of showers and perhaps a couple thunderstorms will be coming in late Tuesday night."

The precipitation will largely clear out by sunrise, and temperatures will be cooler, dropping back to a high in the 60s on Wednesday and Thursday.

Those highs, Moss said, will yet be warmer than the norm.

"Then Wednesday, you see the cooler air come back in," he predicted. But it is "still a couple of degrees on the high side of normal for this time of year, so it's a pretty mild stretch here starting the week."