TUESDAY’S WEATHER: Last cold morning ahead of warmer temps

It’s the first morning of spring, and it’s a cold one. But we can expect a “big change” in our weather pattern later this week, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz said.

The cold air will be replaced by much warmer weather by mid-week, and it’ll get even warmer toward the end of the week, he said.

For now, though, another freeze warning is in effect until 10 a.m. Tuesday as temperatures are in the 30s ahead of daybreak in metro Atlanta, which is only slightly warmer than yesterday morning.

“We were well below freezing yesterday,” meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “Twenty-eight degrees: Only four times since 1980 — so going back about 43 years — in Atlanta have we had a temperature that cold this late in the season.”

For some perspective, the last spring freeze, on average, has come earlier and earlier over the last century. About 100 years ago, it typically was around the end of March. Now, the last freeze comes in mid-March.

“We were a little later than that this year if that was our final freeze that we saw yesterday morning,” Monahan said.

While the temperatures are still at-or-near freezing Tuesday morning, “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. And we finish pretty nice later today,” Monahan said.

The high today will top out in the 60s, and tomorrow will bring even warmer temperatures with a high in the 70s. By Thursday and Friday, it’s going to feel like May again as highs climb into the 80s.

Rain returns to the forecast Friday with a 20% chance for some late showers. The weekend will bring more rain, including a 60% chance of storms early Saturday and a 30% chance of scattered showers Sunday.