Series of winter weather events expected into Thursday and again Friday and Saturday

Sleet, snow, cold and freezing rain will make for a long and wintry seven days, if National Weather Service meteorologists are correct.

The service has issued a winter weather advisory for Wednesday night into Thursday with the possibility of an inch or two of snow and a little ice thrown in for variety.

That’s on top of a winter storm watch in effect for Thursday evening into Friday with the possibility of five or more inches of snow, should the watch turn to warning.

But wait, there’s more!

The weather pattern is expected to stick around with a trough of cold Canadian air vacationing in the region and waves of wintry weather streaking through the area on into next week.

“We’re in a really active pattern,” said Connor Belak, meteorologist with the weather service. “There are a lot of waves coming around the trough and it’s going to be just one piece of energy after another after another.”

What that means is some form of precipitation Thursday morning and again Thursday night into Friday morning and then again Saturday into Sunday. The cold air mass will keep temperatures near freezing as more waves look to crash through the region on Tuesday, Belak said.

For the immediate weather worries, a wave of moist air is coming around the mountains and into the cold air mass, bringing a wintry mix into Thursday with up to two inches predicted.

“That could change depending on the temperatures,” Belak said. “It could be more rain, more ice or more sleet. One degree warmer or one degree colder could make a big difference.”

After that, the next wave of weather wanders by around 9 p.m. on Thursday and continues into Friday morning.

“This should be a snow event for all, with areas generally south of Interstate 64 getting the most snow,” meteorologists predict in a discussion on the weather service website. “Precipitation ends by 1 p.m. Friday with cold and quiet conditions [in place].”

The discussion indicates that cold will remain until at least Tuesday of next week, but the calm not so much. That will likely be disrupted come Saturday night.

“On Saturday, an area of low pressure will move along a stationary front through the Southeast and then quickly offshore. Precipitation north and west of this low will fall as a wintry mix and freezing rain Saturday into early Sunday morning,” meteorologists predicted. “[The area] could see a light coating of freezing rain with this system for much of the area and perhaps even some sleet mixing in.”

Sunday night will likely see lows in the 20s, with teens in higher elevations, the weather service predicts. That could be followed by another winter weather event next Tuesday, either snow, sleet or freezing rain.

“[It] could lead to a potentially significant winter weather event,” meteorologists predict. “At this point, the pattern would favor a freezing rain event with this as well.”

Source: www.dailyprogress.com