Tracking the possibility of wintry weather early Thursday, Saturday

Two separate systems give us the chance for a little snow early Thursday and again Saturday

Next Weather Maker - Thursday, 01/30/2020

ROANOKE, Va. – This winter, so far, has been pathetic from a snow perspective. Half of you are okay with that, and the other half are not. This week, there are two opportunities for wintry weather in southwest and central Virginia.

We’ll first start off with Thursday morning. This, if anything, is not going to be a huge deal for us.

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We’re tracking a piece of energy in the upper levels of the atmosphere. This acts to lift the air, which gets more clouds going and can start forming snowflakes. There’s not a ton of moisture around, and this thing is moving quickly. The lack of moisture could actually eat away at this potential entirely, which is something we’ll watch closely in the next day or so.

Upper Air Energy - Thursday around 5 a.m.

Because of that, accumulations (if any) would be pretty light. The potential for that is in areas west of the Parkway, decreasing the farther east you go.

By Friday, we’re mostly in between systems but tracking an evolving storm along the coast. Forecast models often place these systems too far east, so it’s likely that that gets corrected in the data in the coming days. That would mean more moisture being thrown into the region and potentially more impactful winter weather.

The question becomes, “How much cold air is there?”

This will be the deciding factor between a cold rain, a mix, or more snow for your area Friday night into Saturday.

What We're Tracking - 02/02/2020

Aside from these two systems, afternoon temperatures could not be any closer to “normal” for this time of year.

Temperature trend - 01/28 to 02/01

That will change by Sunday and early next week, as highs climb into the 50s. Some 60° readings will be possible next Monday across Southside.


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.