THURSDAY’S WEATHER | ‘Welcome to the end’ of the coldest part of the year

Metro Atlantans are waking up to near-freezing temperatures Thursday morning, but this should be as cold as it’ll get at least for the foreseeable future.

“Welcome to the end of the coldest part of the entire year,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “Our average high temperatures are upward from here.”

By mid-February, the average high will be in the upper 50s, and by the end of the month, highs average at about 62 degrees.

For Thursday, though, morning temps are in the low 30s around the city. By the afternoon, we’ll see highs climb up to about 60 degrees. Friday will be even warmer, with a projected high of around 67 degrees.

Skies will be mostly sunny today with a few clouds filtering in for the evening.

“Those high clouds actually are gonna give us, with a mild afternoon, a really nice sunset,” Monahan said. “So look out to the West as the sun goes down tonight. With these high clouds, should be a lot of pretty color in the sky.”

Rain is still staying out of the forecast until Sunday. Things should stay dry for the first half of the day, but showers will start to filter in that afternoon.

A cooling pattern is expected to start then, too, with highs staying in the low 50s on Sunday. It’ll stay cool at least for the first half of next week, too, but lows shouldn’t dip below the low 40s and upper 30s.