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Winter Weather Event for parts of the state Friday!
❄️ Winter Weather Update: A quick-hitting Winter Weather system will move through the state late tonight into Friday. Even the mere thought of snow/sleet in North Carolina causes mass panic and places to close before the first flake starts falling. Please calm down, this event will not have you stuck in your homes for days. You don't need to run the grocery store, but there could be some impacts on the roads Friday morning into the afternoon across parts of the state, with some lingering into Friday night.
📌WHAT: A low-pressure system will move into the state tonight and into Friday, bringing moisture to most areas across parts of Central Eastern NC/Coastal NC, and Southwestern North Carolina will see another round of cold rain with no worries. Arctic High Pressure over the northeast will supply limited cold air, and the low moving in from the Gulf will result in some winter weather across portions of the state.
Winter Weather Advisories: Person-Granville-Vance-Warren-Halifax-Forsyth-Guilford-Alamance-Orange-Durham-Surry-Stokes-Rockingham-Caswell-Wilkes-Northampton Avery-Yancey-Mitchell-Caldwell Mountains-Burke Mountains-McDowell Mountains Madison-Haywood-Buncombe-Northern Jackson-Southern Jackson-Transylvania Ashe-Alleghany NC-Watauga-
⏰ Timing: Starting after midnight and lasting into late morning, early afternoon across most of the state, with plain rain staying around East Friday afternoon, and another round of some plain rain Saturday morning across parts of Eastern/Coastal NC.
❄️ SNOW/SLEET MAP: (Image 1) I'm sorry, snow lovers, this is not your storm by any means. This will be pathetic, to be honest. Looking at the latest data, we will have a warm nose (warm air aloft trying to work in from the south which will result in snow trying to change to sleet or even freezing rain. Overall, limited moisture will also drive down snowfall totals.
-Dusting-1 inches of snow, here is mainly along the I-85 Corridor back to the Triad, and into the Northern Foothills, we will see snow starting late tonight and mixing with sleet through Friday morning. A couple of spots in the higher elevations of Transylvania County could see some snow, too. Some limited accumulating snow is possible, especially on elevated surfaces, but nothing really fun or cool to even play in.
1-2 Inches: This area is also the Northern NC line towards Virginia, extending from Wilkes County east to about Granville/Vance Counties and all in between. A band of snow could produce locally higher snowfall accumulation in spots.
2-4 Inches: The North Carolina High Country could see 2-4 inches of snow, mainly in parts of Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, and Ashe County. Sleet could mix in, which could hold totals more to 2-3 inches, but somewhere in the High Country will see more than 3-4 inches, maybe parts of Ashe County.
-Hatched Red Area, some limited snow/sleet at the start could bring some light accumulation if the system shifts any further south at the last minute.
-FREEZING RAIN: (Image 2) A Light glaze is possible across parts of the Northern Central parts of the state, back to the upper foothills and Central mountains across parts of Eastern Buncombe County, Eastern Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, and Western Caldwell, Burke, McDowell, and down into Northern Transylvania/Henderson County. Not much freezing rain is expected, but it could cause a glaze.
Travel (Image 3) -The area of greatest risk for hazardous travel due to winter weather right now is in the Orange area, basically from Durham NW and west back to the Northern Mountains. While accumulation from snow/sleet/ freezing rain generally looks limited, even just minor accumulation will cause some problems on the roads. The best timing for impacts looks to be early Friday morning, 2/3AM, through about midafternoon on Friday, with some areas lingering into the evening where higher amounts occur.
-Further to the south in the yellow area, I’ve added little to no impacts, as there could be a brief mix. If the system trends further south here, we could see some actual impacts, so still watching just in case, but right now the main impacts are going to be in the orange area.
😎: The Bottom Line: This is not a blockbuster Winter Storm, but we've been cold so even limited snow/sleet/freezing rain will cause problems in the spots that see it, especially during the Friday morning commute into early afternoon with some impacts lingering into Friday night and early Saturday, where more snow/ice falls. The world is not ending. The forecast is just a forecast and science changes, so don't take it literally, but this is my best take as of now. I hope this helps you out. I'll be watching and providing updates as needed today and Friday. Still watching for any last-minute shifts.
-Ethan
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