RALEIGH — Ice threatened to make Monday morning miserable, but nature could not quite back it up with action as temperatures stayed at or above freezing during the night and began to rise with the sun.

The National Weather Service left in place a freezing-rain advisory for Orange and Durham counties and other north and northeast of the Triangle, but police and state troopers reported no ice on road surfaces.

Several school systems announced delayed openings; click here for a list of the major delays.

Weather forecasters had said late Sunday afternoon that they did not expect as much or as widespread freezing rain as the storm that closed schools and offices early on Friday.

Nevertheless, the National Weather Service office in Raleigh issued an advisory for Wake, Orange, Durham, Warren, Franklin, Vance, Granville and Person counties from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

"We just didn’t want it to sneak up on anybody," said Barrett Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Temperatures had been expected to drop below freezing into the upper 20s by early Monday morning, but warmer air coming from the southwest prevented that.

Forecasters said high temperatures Monday would be range from the upper 40s to perhaps the low 50s as cloud cover blocked some sunshine.

Drizzle or rain were possible all day, the weather service said.

Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to bring a brief respite from the colder-than-average temperatures with highs in the 60s and maybe close to 70 on Wednesday.

For the latest conditions and updated forecasts, go to our weather center.

Blythe: 919-836-4948