Tonight: very cold and very cold. Scattered flurries and snow showers. Lows 7-13. Winds are west-northwesterly 5-20 knots per hour with higher gusts. Winds are cold, dropping to near or below zero.
Saturday: Very cold weather. Scattered flurries and mountain snow showers. Some late clearing. Highs 14-20. Winds are northwesterly 5 – 15 knots per hour, with gusts reaching 25 knots per hour. Wind chills near or below zero at times.
Saturday night: Partly cloudy and very cold. Low -3 to 4. Northwest wind 10 mph or less.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. cold. Highs 27-32. Northeast wind 10 mph or less.
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** A winter weather warning throughout tonight for the entire Tri-Cities area, and a winter storm warning for Buchanan and Tazewell counties in Virginia as well as Letcher and Harlan counties in Kentucky through tonight **
** Warning of cold winds in the valleys until Saturday morning, warning of cold winds in the mountains **
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Another Arctic explosion moving towards the Tri-Cities! Standing water/mud will freeze tonight as temperatures drop. Be alert for slick roads, parking lots and sidewalks tonight!
Scattered rain and snow flurries will continue throughout tonight with gusty winds and cold air blowing across the southern Appalachians. There is additional accumulation of light snowfall, especially at higher elevations with dust of up to a few inches. There are likely to be higher totals across higher, west-facing slopes. Even a few snow showers passing through the Tri-Cities tonight could cause some soft roads locally.
Some flurries and mountain snow are expected to continue on Saturday.
Very cold temperatures and even wind chills tonight through Saturday night – the “like” temperature will drop to near zero or below that at times. Lows Saturday morning will be near 10.
Highs are near 15 to 20 on Saturday (the record cold high is 18 for the exact date in 1940). Low temperatures near zero Saturday night into Sunday morning. We haven't dipped below zero in the Tri-Cities since February 2015. Sunday morning's record low is the Tri-Cities' all-time record low of -21 in 1985 (don't worry, we won't be close to that). thanks God!
A warm trend is expected next week. Highs in the 50s on Tuesday and lows in the 60s on Thursday! Heavy snow is expected to melt next week.
The next weather maker will arrive by the middle of next week. This next system will provide occasional rain chances Tuesday night into Friday. We will be monitoring for any potential flooding threat due to snowmelt and rainfall (more details as we get closer).
The normal high for this time of year in the Tri-Cities is 46. The normal low is 26.
-Meteorologist Dave Dirks
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