Hang in there: Temps will stay freezing before huge warm up

Below-freezing temperatures will stick around for most of Monday before a drastic temperature change brings 70-degree weather to the Triangle by Friday.

Posted 10:42 a.m. Jan 9, 2017 — Updated 1:06 p.m. Jan 9, 2017

RALEIGH, N.C. — Below-freezing temperatures will stick around for most of Monday and Tuesday before a drastic temperature change brings 70-degree weather to the Triangle by Friday.

Though warmer weather is only days away, the intense cold will not leave the area so quickly.

"Wow it's cold," said WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. "Yes, we were expecting it, but it's still pretty amazing. Single digits into the mid-teens will be with us until at least 9 a.m."

"It's brutal," said WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth. "This is the coldest we've been in about three years."

The sub-freezing temperatures mean that any melting that took place while the sun was out Sunday refroze overnight, and officials are urging drivers to stay off the roads as icy conditions persist.

Bright, sunny skies on Monday might offer some contribution to improving the treacherous secondary and neighborhood streets, but any real melting won't take place until Tuesday afternoon, when temperatures finally rise above freezing.

A high of 43 degrees is expected by Tuesday afternoon, and temperatures will only continue to climb as the week goes on. By Friday, temperatures will be in the 70s, making it feel more like April than January.

"We will go from 0 degrees on Monday (possibly breaking the record low that stands for that date) to 71 degrees on Friday," said Wilmoth. "That's getting close to the record high of 78 degrees for that date. These are some crazy temperature swings!"

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