ROANOKE, Va. – Be careful driving around early Friday. Showers are widespread with some ice and snow in our northern counties. The rain is light enough that you can still get out and about if need be.
Rain starts to dry up after 9:00 AM. Some showers linger in the later hours of the morning. By noon most of us are dry, and any afternoon showers are very short lived.
The system wraps moisture back around into our region late in the day. That sends some snow to our western slopes, but it’s hard for the moisture to make it over the mountains.
Rain totals are mostly below a quarter of an inch. The Highlands and Roanoke stack up a few more tenths. Any snow that falls will likely melt with temperatures above freezing both Friday and Saturday afternoon.
Right behind Friday’s fronts high wind arrives. Winds to 20 mph with gusts to 40 mph last through tonight and into Saturday morning. When the wind pairs with cold overnight the wind chill ends up around 10 degrees below the actual temperature.
The wind and mountain snow eases off as Saturday morning goes along. High pressure to our north helps us stay dry. If it were closer to us skies would be clear; instead we have mostly cloudy skies again.
The break from the rain is short-lived. Rain comes back after sunrise on Sunday. Colder temperatures mean more wintry mix and snow is possible in the afternoon.
As of Friday, there is sufficient cold for some widespread light snow in the early afternoon. If temperatures are just a few degrees warmer that precipitation will stay as rain. Keep checking in with us as the system develops for our latest analysis.
Temperatures definitely cool behind Sunday’s system. Highs are well below average at the start of the work week. Even with warmer air later in the week we stay below average.
Another system brings some showers at the end of the week. Temperatures climb slowly, but we are closer to average by the end of the week.