Sunday evening and Monday are WRAL Weather Alert Days, due to the intense cold that is moving into the Eastern U.S.
A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect Sunday evening through Monday morning, as wind chills fall into the single digits across the area.
We first alluded to this before Thanksgiving, when talk of “sudden stratospheric warming” would disrupt the polar vortex.
As a result of these large-scale patterns, December 2025 is the 8th-coldest on record thus far in the Triangle. It’s been the coldest since 2010.
Now, the cold appears to be reaching its peak. A large dip in the jet stream is responsible for carving a path for air to dive straight from the Arctic into the U.S.
Oftentimes, when you’re dealt a blow of Arctic air, you’re getting gusty wind to accompany it as well.
That will certainly be the case Sunday, as gusts of 25 to 35 mph add insult to injury. Morning temperatures likely start in the 40s, but temperatures plummet later in the day.
Wind chills fall into the teens as soon as 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Sunday.
Wind chill is an important number, because our bodies respond differently when wind is involved. Ordinarily, there’s a layer of warm air between our skin and the cold. When the wind blows, it removes that protective layer of warmth. Therefore, we feel colder than what the thermometer might indicate.
As we head into Monday morning, the cold continues to intensify. Temperatures drop into the teens, and wind chills fall into the single digits across the area.
As of Sunday morning, our forecast low for Monday is 15°. That would be our coldest weather since around Christmas of 2022.
Long-term trends suggest that the pattern will flip-flop, favoring us for warmer-than-average weather leading up to Christmas Day.
