ROANOKE, Va. – Coming off a weekend that felt like half spring and half winter, the weather pattern evens out a bit for much of this week.
We expect a partly to mostly cloudy sky and temperatures in the 40s for most of the area Monday. Some spots east of the Parkway will touch 50°, as that’s where we expect a little more sun.
Recommended Videos
Temperatures Tuesday will be pretty similar. A weak system passing through later in the day into Wednesday, however, will kick up the wind a bit and bring light snow to the favored west-facing slopes.
Even Wednesday and Thursday’s temperatures will be very similar, but things take a brief turn come Friday. This comes with our next storm system of interest.
A storm system will come out of the Plains by Thursday, picking up some moisture and causing rising motion in the atmosphere. These are the processes needed for precipitation to form.
At the same time, a marginally cold airmass will be around.
As the two collide, snow will be a possibility Thursday night and Friday of this week. This all depends, however, on the storm’s exact track, how much cold air will be around and the time of day at which the storm passes through.
This system comes onshore along the West Coast Monday night into Tuesday, at which point weather balloons will be launched into it. These balloons routinely collect data that’s fed into forecast models, making them more accurate in the coming days.
For instance, one forecast model from Sunday put 9″ of snow in Roanoke Friday. As of Monday morning, it’s putting 1″ of snow in Roanoke by Friday. Expect these wobbles and changes for now. We’ll continue to keep you posted on air, online, on social media and on our app.