Highs in the 40s expected Thursday, Friday as Triangle nears record lows

Both Wednesday and Thursday will have lows reaching 23 degrees, whereas the normal low for mid-November is 42 degrees.

Wednesday will warm up to 41 degrees throughout the day, but a bitter wind chill will make the air feel much colder.

“It’s really not going to feel much above freezing for the entire day,” WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said.

Wednesday morning was almost 30 degrees colder than Tuesday morning, with much of central North Carolina in the mid-to-upper 20s.

A record low was set in Greensboro on Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures dropped to 21 degrees, passing the record of 22 degrees set in 1977.

A high-pressure system to our west is pumping cold air in from Canada.

High temperatures on Thursday and Friday are expected to hit the upper 40s.

Kim Philosophos was visiting the Triangle from Florida, where it was in the 70s.

“I’m freezing,” Philosophos said. “It’s 20-something degrees here, and I’m freezing. Way too cold. I’m going back home right now.”

Low-pressure systems will develop offshore Friday and Saturday and spread some rain inland and into the Triangle.

“It looks like a cold, cold rain,” Gardner said. “It looks pretty miserable.”

But because temperatures will be warmer, Gardner said she’s not expecting frozen precipitation.