Forecast Last Updated at Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 6:47AM

Cold Thursday

A dry front blew through Wednesday night. High pressure behind the front is bringing cold air reinforcements today on blustery NW winds. Highs today will be at least 10°s below Wednesday. After a cold night, Friday will be chilly but less cold than today. Messy weather unfortunately is timed for the weekend--expect a light wintry mix late Friday night changing to rain Saturday morning. We'll have a lull in precipitation Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. Then cold air returns early Sunday morning with snow showers and snow flurries (little in the way of accumulation).

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Thursday Hi: 29 Lo: 21 Mostly clear; Colder; NW wind 10-20 mph & gusty in the AM

Friday Hi: 43 Lo: 32 Mostly clear start; Increasing clouds late; Chilly; Wintry mix late Friday night; NW wind 5-15 mph becoming Southerly at night

Saturday Hi: 37 Lo: 35 Cloudy; Chilly rain, mostly in the AM (maybe AM freezing rain east along the Blue Ridge); Light SE wind (except SW 15-25 mph & gusty above 4000')

Sunday Hi: 35 Lo: 21 Mostly cloudy; Falling daytime temps; AM snow showers & flurries; Blustery NW wind

Monday Hi: 39 Lo: 26 Lots of sunshine; Remaining cold

Further Out

Tuesday - Generally clear skies; A notch milder; High in the mid 40s; Low near 30 degrees
Wednesday - Clear; Seasonal temperatures; High in the mid 40s; Low in the lower 30s

Forecast Discussion

A dry cold front blew through Wednesday night. We'll feel the effects today with temperatures more than ten degrees colder than yesterday. Add to that gusty winds and it will feel even colder.

After a very cold start to Friday, temperatures will rebound slightly in the afternoon. Then clouds increase late in the day and through the evening.

Similar but less dramatically than last weekend, high pressure wedges down the east side of the Appalachians Friday. Then moist air from the SW overruns cold air at the surface Friday night. Expect a light wintry mix developing late Friday night. That changes to rain Saturday morning (some freezing rain lingering for a while east along the Blue Ridge). We'll have a lull in precipitation Saturday afternoon and Saturday night as the leading edge of precipitation pushes northeast with a cold front lagging back to our west.

The cold front moves through from the west early Sunday morning. Behind that front in a strong northwesterly flow, temperatures drop and we'll see snow showers and snow flurries. Dusting to 1" accumulations will be mostly limited to higher elevations on the west side of the Appalachians (Mt Rogers, Whitetop, Snake, Sugar, Beech, Roan, Mitchell, and into the Smokies). Clouds decrease Sunday afternoon.

Monday through Wednesday will be dry. Monday will be colder than average for mid-December. Tuesday and Wednesday will be seasonal.

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