Slick, windy and cold as snow departs; next system Sunday

Travel will be an issue for some of us all throughout Thursday

Storm threats throughout Thursday, 1/28/2021

ROANOKE, Va. – Snow exits the area Thursday morning, but it leaves a (somewhat) lasting impact on parts of the region. Expect slick and covered roads to continue, especially in the New River Valley.

This is where we’ll stay below freezing throughout the day (see below).

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High temperature forecast for Thursday, 1/28/2021

This is also where the wind can blow fallen snow onto the roads. Given our wet ground from the past few days, our wind gusts of 30-40 mph might be enough to cause scattered power outages. Make sure you have plenty of ways to stay warm!

Wind speed and wind gust forecast for Thursday, 1/28/2021

Factor that in with temperatures in the teens and 20s overnight, and you’ve got a recipe for some big-time cold Friday morning. Wind chills will be in the single digits and teens Thursday night into Friday morning.

Wind chill forecast for Friday morning, 1/29/2021

Wet or snow-covered roads will remain slick as we head into Friday morning.

As far as any additional wintry precipitation, that won’t happen Friday. High pressure will be in firm control of our weather. As high pressure drifts northeast, our cold air will stay in place for the next storm system. This arrives late Saturday night into Sunday.

Odds of wintry weather through 1/31/2021

It’s likely that this becomes a more prolonged winter storm, especially since we already have cold air and this storm isn’t moving very quickly. As of Thursday morning, it appears that most of our mixed precipitation will be closer to the NC-VA line with more snow north of that.

Winter storm becoming likely Sunday into Monday

We’ll keep you posted, though, as any finer details are subject to changes over the coming days.


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.