More freezing temperatures on the way for Columbia. Here’s when it’ll start warming up

After flirting with the freezing mark early Tuesday, temperatures in the Columbia area are expected to dip below freezing for the next two nights.

The temperature at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport was hovering just above the freezing mark at 33 degrees a little before 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to Hunter Coleman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Columbia.

Coleman said temperatures are expected to hit the freezing mark within the hour.

Highs Tuesday will be around 50 degrees, and temperatures will plunge overnight with a forecast low Wednesday morning of around 29 degrees, Coleman said. Wind chills overnight will be in the lower 20s.

“Tomorrow night won’t be as bad,” Coleman said of Wednesday night.

Wednesday’s high is expected to be in the upper 40s with low temperatures again dipping below freezing and a forecast low of 30 degrees heading into Thursday morning, according to the weather service’s forecast.

The cold blast is the result of a cold arctic high pressure that is settling over the area after moving down from the upper Midwest, according to Coleman.

Temperatures will start warming up Thursday and heading into the weekend, with highs in the lower 60s on Friday and the mid to upper 60s on Saturday, Coleman said. Saturday also brings a 60 percent chance of rain.

Highs on Sunday will be in the mid 70s, Coleman said.

This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 7:16 AM.