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Winter Storm Warning Issued for Tuesday Evening Through Wednesday Evening

By Nathan Ham

A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected to cover the High Country on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Storm Warning from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The NWS alert says that heavy mixed precipitation is expected through southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina, starting late Tuesday afternoon and continuing through most of the day on Wednesday.

This is not expected to be a big snow even with just an inch or two of accumulation, however the icing hazard is the main issue with this storm. Ice accumulations up to two tenths of an inch are possible, which will make travel conditions hazardous and increase the chances of tree damage or power outages for downs trees and power lines.

The latest forecast from Ray’s Weather Center says that the precipitation will arrive on Tuesday afternoon as a wintry mix continuing through the night and then turning to freezing rain primarily on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. The precipitation turns to all rain on Wednesday afternoon as temperatures rise above freezing.

Temperatures will continue to warm up the rest of the week, however moisture remains in the forecast with periods of rain on Thursday with highs near 60 and more rain on Friday with a high near 50 degrees.

Rain stays in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday with highs in the upper 40s on Saturday and reaching 60 degrees on Sunday.