UPDATE:  Weather Service upgrades effects of coastal storm

The National Weather Service has upgraded the advisories it issued yesterday afternoon for a coastal storm that is winding up this afternoon off the southeast coast of North Carolina.

A strong cold front passed through the Outer Banks early this morning, and a low pressure area formed off the coast along the front.  It is forecast to deepen during the day today.  A strong upper low will cross the area later today.  Winds will increase today as a tight pressure gradient forms between the low offshore and a high building to the north.

The highest winds will be tonight before they start subsiding tomorrow. One Hatteras village resident measured a wind gust of 59 mph shortly after 11 this morning.

Rain began over the area early this morning and is expected to continue through much of the day. Temperatures fell from the low 60s yesterday afternoon into the 40s overnight and will remain there for the rest of the day.

“It will be a cold dreary and blustery day with overcast conditions and light misty rain,” the Weather Service said in its forecast discussion.

Here are the current weather warnings and advisories:

After Thursday, the bottom falls out as several bouts of Arctic air invade the region with short spells of warmth in between the cold outbreaks.

A cold front Thursday night is forecast to drop temperatures into the 20s.  The frontal passage will be mostly dry, but there is a possibility of light snow showers or flurries along the coast.

Temperatures Friday will be in the mid- to upper 30s with the low to mid-20s on Friday night.  Slight warmth returns Saturday when temperatures will moderate into the mid- to upper 40s.

Saturday night, a strong Arctic/Siberian front will cross the area, again with a possibility of snow showers.  Temperatures will drop into the upper teens to low 20s across the Outer Banks. 

Sunday will be the coldest day of the outbreak with highs in the mid-20s and lows that night in the mid- to upper teens.Gale force winds are also possible again Saturday night into Sunday.

Temperatures will begin to moderate on Monday when highs will climb back above freezing, perhaps to about 40.

For more information and the latest warnings, advisories and forecasts, go to http://www.weather.gov/mhx/.