ROANOKE, Va. – We’re drinking straight out of the Gulf Thursday, which will lead to periods of heavy rain at times.
That starts during the morning, so use extra caution during the commute! If your windshield wipers are going, your headlights have to be on.
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It’s a state law in Virginia.
As low pressure inches closer to the region, that will keep some unusually intense rain for this time of year going. This all will be moving from west to east. At this point, streams and creeks will likely start rising.
Moisture continues to move in overnight, but the bulk of the tropical moisture should be east of here. So, we expect some periods of light to moderate rain to continue into the early morning hours Friday.
A cold front passing through will spark a few additional showers through the first half of the day Friday, but this won’t be anything widespread. Colder air on the backside will allow snow to pile up on the west-facing slopes. A few bursts of snow/flurries will be possible in parts of the New River Valley and Highlands Friday.
Accumulation is unlikely, given how wet the ground is. That’s a different story, though, for Mountain Lake, Whitetop/Mt. Rogers, Burkes Garden, the Blue Grass Valley and Snowshoe.
Rain accumulation is by far the bigger story here. An additional 1-3″ is expected area-wide, with higher totals in parts of Southside. This will lead to stream and creek flooding, standing water, localized flash flooding through early Friday morning and river flooding through the first half of the weekend.
You can find a full list of river and creek levels any time right here.
Beyond Thursday, the wind really starts cranking Friday. With a wet ground, we’re concerned about the possibility for downed trees and power outages.
Stay with Your Local Weather Authority for frequent updates throughout this rain-maker and beyond.