ROANOKE, Va. – In the first five days of December, the weather has resembled Augusta, Georgia more than southwest and central Virginia.
Unseasonable warmth continues Monday, with highs mostly in the 60s.
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That warmth comes ahead of a cold front. Along the front, rain will form to our west.
However, most of the rain showers we see Monday afternoon will target the mountains and become much less numerous the farther east the front moves.
This is bad news for drought-stricken areas.
We’ll be breezy at times ahead of this cold front, but the wind really picks up during the evening before calming down overnight.
That allows temperatures to fall into the 20s and 30s first thing Tuesday morning. Talk about a shock to the system!
Highs Tuesday get into the 40s despite more sun.
Another weak storm system rides to the south and tries to play with our cold air Wednesday morning.
It’s possible that areas north of U.S. 460 see a period of snow and sleet through midday. However, it’s unlikely that this amounts to much due to a) the fact that there’s a lot of dry air at the beginning of this b) the ground is very warm and c) most of the moisture is southeast of here.
As for the chance of 1″ of snow or more (mostly on the grass), you have to go into the mountains north of I-64 for that to become a possibility.
Beyond Thursday, the jet stream lifts north. That will give us a short period of warmth, especially Saturday, before rain, colder air and gusty winds move back in late Saturday into early Sunday.
Be sure to download our app to get updates on the forecast any time!