ROANOKE, Va. – A quick moving front is sending some snow into parts of the Highlands this morning. A flurry or two can’t be ruled out in the New River Valley or Roanoke Valley.
The most impactful thing this front is doing? Making the wind strong. Wind alerts are in place along and west of the Blue Ridge through noon. It’s an advisory for most of you, although Grayson County is contending with a high wind warning.
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The strongest gusts will have the ability to knock trees down and stir up your outdoor Christmas decorations. We expect the wind to gradually back off this afternoon, evening and tonight.
Other than today’s wind, there isn’t much else to talk about with the weather through Wednesday. We’ll have generally clear skies and seasonably cool temperatures.
Things start to change on Christmas Eve. Out ahead of an approaching cold front, we’ll see a relatively warm day with highs 10-15 degrees above-average. Rounds of rain are expected to roll through, starting early in the morning.
You see what we have to look forward to once that front passes through Thursday evening: a big drop in temperatures, strong wind and some brief snow.
We’re talking about highs in the 20s and 30s on Christmas Day. If our forecast verifies, it would be the coldest Christmas in our corner of the Commonwealth in 16 years.
The western mountains remain the favored region for a White Christmas this year (1″ of snow on the ground at 7 a.m.). Flakes may fly Christmas Eve night east of there, but accumulations probably won’t reach that threshold.
Look for quiet weather through the weekend, before another system potentially brings rain and snow early next week.