Big weather changes incoming

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - After the second warmest day of the month and year (Wednesday hit 73 Huntington, 74 Charleston), the weather is about to make an about face with heavy rain on Thursday then a blustery chill with snow flurries on Friday. It’s all part of the wild and wacky weather we have enjoyed/endured here in 2023.

How wild and woolly you ask? Well so far in 2023 we have delighted in 3 days with highs in the 70s compared to only 3 days with measurable snow. Granted the snow has been confined to dustings not inches, but the reality is our climate has behaved more like Atlanta and Charlotte this winter rendering those two southern towns with a climate more typical of Tallahassee or Mobile.

The first sudden change will come as we awaken to showers and even gusty thunderstorms with heavy rain in spots. The commute to work may be rather nasty where downpours leave their mark!

With stream levels way down due to the ongoing fall-winter dryness, flash flooding is less likely than normal when several waves of rain pass through on Thursday. Still, storm culverts can back up in spots where rain falls faster than it can be pulled underground through the storm drains. You know that as street flooding and you know the spots it may occur (BK along Norway Ave in Huntington and low-lying dips in Kanawha County near Rand, Malden and Chelyan, to name a few.)

As the morning soaking rains move away, a mid-day lull could even see a few glimmers of sun break through the dense overcast. That would set the stage for a new round of gusty squalls by nightfall as the polar cold front passes. References to severe wind storms from the National Weather Service are worth paying attention to, though it is a time of year when ingredients for high wind storms at a large scale are compromised.

Snow lovers, it will turn blustery and much colder on Friday as snow flurries ride the north wind into town. While a rooftop dusting can occur where a sudden squall appears, only mountainous West Virginia is expecting any accumulations measured in inches.