First Warning Forecast | Back To The Rain/Snow Line

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - We’ve been watching brisk cold winds try to muscle temperatures back to the ‘freezing mark’ ( 32° F ) to get these patchy bursts of snow to stick, but thus far have been thwarted in the lowland valleys. A nuisance mix of rain and snow will continue to scatter about through the day, offering a brief dusting on the grass that comes and goes. Meanwhile on the ridgetops folks have a better shot at a sticking snow, but even there accumulations are temporary as highs reach the mid and upper 30s this afternoon. You have to be in the mountains along and east of US-19 for the snow to stay, eventually mounting up 1″- 2″ during the day and about the same tonight. Even the lowlands will go to all-snow tonight, as temperatures are finally able to dip below freezing, heading to the upper 20s by tomorrow morning. We will be on the lookout for some slickness on the roads Friday morning, but there isn’t a lot of moisture to work with by the time the lowlands get cold enough. The forecast is generally for a Trace to 1″ of snow at best in the lowlands, while high points east of I-77 will see 1″- 2″, and further to the eastern mountains beyond US-19 will see 2″- 4″. The ski slopes will loved this well-timed event, bringing upwards of 3″- 6″ of snow right in time for the coming weekend.

Friday itself will be a generically wintry day, with any early slickness becoming more ‘ho-hum’ in the chill of the afternoon. Highs will reach the upper 30s, technically colder than average for this time of year, even though the sunshine will eventually poke through. A passing wave of clouds scoot through harmlessly overnight Friday, grazing our northern counties with another brief mix of rain and snow. Essentially Friday and Saturday afternoons will both turn out alright, which is great news for the more than 1,000 wrestlers headed to downtown Huntington for the WSAZ Invitational. By the time folks are leaving on Sunday, showers will return. We’ve got another storm system we’ll be watching coming mid-week next week, but so far the winter season continues to roll on without any appreciable snow event for the Tri-State area.

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