ROANOKE, Va. – We’re tracking a storm system that will ride the coast Friday and Friday night. This will likely spread some moisture north into our region Friday afternoon, starting as mostly rain.
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The intensity of precipitation and temperature at the surface will determine whether or not we see a brief window of wet snow overnight into early Saturday morning. The more intense the precipitation, the more likely it is that snowflakes survive to the surface. The lighter it is, the more likely snowflakes melt to rain since temperatures will most likely be above freezing.
It’s for that reason that a brief window of wet snow is possible in higher elevations of the New River Valley and Highlands (and some higher spots in the Roanoke Valley too). Accumulating snow, however, appears to be unlikely in most of the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg and Southside.
Another disturbance late Saturday into Sunday morning will produce snow showers in our favored west-facing slopes of Giles, Grayson, Highland, Greenbrier and Pocahontas Counties. Otherwise, the wind starts cranking!
However, colder air will be bottled to the north. Groundhog Day temperatures will likely be in the 50s. As the jet stream continues to rise north, warmer air moves in from the south.
This will place us in the 60s for highs for at least next Monday, if not into the middle of next week.