First Warning Forecast | Winter Won’t Be Denied

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - We’ll work our way toward the lower 40s this afternoon, turning us to a primarily rain format. A few breaks in the skies will turn us ‘squally’ this afternoon. There will be some breezy bouts of brief steady rain interspersed with breaks in the clouds. As we get to evening and the overnight, we’ll be watching the temperatures drop through the 30s, into the 20s by tomorrow morning. This will progress us back to snow showers, suitable enough for a spot dusting of snow (even in the lowlands), with 1″- 3″ of snow slated for ‘upslope’ areas along and east of US-19 -- double that for ski slopes. The culprit in all this? A developing coastal Nor’easter. We haven’t talked much about these storm systems this season, but we’ve got a classic setup for one off the New England coastline Tuesday. As this low-pressure center gets stronger, the wrap-around flow off the Great Lakes will also intensify, bringing in that ‘Lake-Effect’ snow that is much more a thing in the mountains than at the lowlands.

The snowflakes will still fly in the morning Tuesday, eventually retreating to the mountains in the afternoon. Highs will struggle in the 30s, dropping to the lower 20s tomorrow night after a clear-out. This will install a hard freeze across the Tri-State. This one may well be a more difficult time for the plants and shrubs out there than what we had to deal with last week. We do thaw out a bit during the middle of the week, given sunshine bringing us back to 60-degrees by Thursday. That will be our best day this week, as Saint Patrick’s Day Friday will get another rain event sliding through that will finish in a wintry mix Saturday morning. This will be a lighter event, but still something to watch. Saturday eventually puts us back in sunshine, but temperatures will again struggle in the 30s and 40s.

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