ROANOKE, Va. – After an early morning line of sleet and snow, the rest of Wednesday looks dry, cold and gusty at times. Bundle up, before you head out the door!
While most main roads look just wet, be careful around bridges and overpasses. Also use caution on sidewalks and driveways. These haven’t been treated, due to yesterday’s rain, and can freeze more quickly than your main roads.
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We’re in the 40s Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, with overnight lows in the 20s. That cold air doesn’t bode well for us by Friday morning. Let’s explain why.
The weather pattern Friday morning is such that a shallow layer of cold air is trapped by a layer of warm, wet air above us. Warm, wet air that falls into subfreezing air leads to freezing rain.
Forecast data pegs a 6 to 9 hour time window of that possibility Friday morning. An earlier start time would mean more ice and slicker travel in the morning. A later start time would mean less ice and slightly better driving conditions.
While this may not be a crippling ice storm, this does have the chance to create slippery travel for the morning commute. Eventually, we’ll warm up just enough to see this transition to a cold rain by Friday afternoon.
We’ll watch this closely and start providing estimated timing, totals and impacts either later this afternoon or first thing Thursday morning. Stay with Your Local Weather Authority for updates.