ROANOKE, Va. – A warm front nearby has triggered rounds of heavy rain since midday Monday. Watch for ponding on the road, localized flooding and possibly some slick spots too Tuesday morning.
This warm front will be tough to lift, so temperatures will be slow to rise during the day Tuesday. As clouds slowly clear west to east, we’ll actually notice the New River Valley being slightly warmer than folks farther east. Highs will mainly be in the 50s Tuesday.
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We may see some fog develop overnight with highs Wednesday in the low to mid 50s. A few rain showers develop late Wednesday, with a disturbance bringing snow to parts of the region after sunset.
At first, the ground and air will be quite warm, so it will have to come down very heavily to stick at first. Plus, this disturbance is moving pretty quickly. So, we don’t expect this to clobber us with 4-8″ of snow. However, this could still be impactful late Wednesday into early Thursday morning.
Areas west of the Blue Ridge Parkway (including higher elevations of the Roanoke Valley like Cave Spring, Bent Mountain and Catawba) will see a coating to 2″ of snow Wednesday night. There could be some isolated higher totals in parts of the New River Valley. Farther east, the forecast is for 0-1″ of snow on the ground.
Regardless, watch for some icy/slick spots Thursday morning. Colder air rushes in on a gusty wind and could create a few issues, especially on untreated side roads.
The wind will be crankin’ at times Thursday, with gusts of 30-45 mph certainly possible.
This could make it feel like the teens and 20s even as we head into the afternoon.
Beyond that, we’re dry and cold through Saturday.
Sunday morning offers up for the potential for a light, wintry mix with a warm front nearby. We could see more wintry weather Sunday night into Monday. Details are scarce at the moment, but it’s a pattern we’re watching closely.