Forecast Last Updated at Sunday, January 25, 2015 at 5:52PM

Mild Evening With Unsettled Week Ahead

After a clear and relatively mild day, we have some changes in store overnight. At dusk, clouds will begin to increase as a clipper system drops in from the Mid-west. Rain and snow showers develop this evening, (initially rain in the valleys with snow for the mountain tops) changing over to all snow early Monday morning. Snow showers continue Monday as the low slides across the High Country and hops over to the Mid-Atlantic coast. Much colder temperatures and gusty NW'ly winds set in behind the low as we are primed for an active week of unsettled weather. We will see minor bouts of snow throughout much of the upcoming week, yet nothing like what New England has in store as this low redevelops off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Got an Amazon gift card for Christmas but didn't get an RWC Blue Ridge Parkway Calendar?. That's an easy problem to solve at our Amazon Store. Of course, you can also get them at many retailers across the area (click here for a list of retailers).

App up! Get the RaysWeather.Com mobile app for Android and Apple.

Sunday Hi: 52 Lo: 33 Clear early, cloudy after dusk; Rain and snow develop by midnight, changes to all snow early Monday AM; Wind NW 5-15 mph

Monday Hi: 41 Lo: 22 Mostly cloudy; Snow showers; Cold; NW wind 10-20 mph, gusty

Tuesday Hi: 36 Lo: 20 Mostly cloudy; Cold; Snow showers & flurries; NW wind 15-30 mph, gusty

Wednesday Hi: 38 Lo: 30 Clear; Cold

Thursday Hi: 50 Lo: 33 Becoming cloudy; Late-day rain & snow showers, changing to snow showers Thur night

Further Out

Friday - Early snow showers & flurries; Then becoming clear; Cold; High in the lower 40s; Low in the upper 20s
Saturday - Mostly clear, becoming cloudy late; Afternoon/evening snow showers; Cold & Windy; High in the lower 40s; Low in the lower 20s

Forecast Discussion

A clipper type low system quickly made its way through the Plains, into Ohio River Valley this afternoon. This low with strengthen a bit more before sliding over the KY & TN valleys into the High Country Monday morning. Although it will strengthen, this system will not have much in the way of moisture to work with as there is no direct moisture flow from the Gulf of Mexico, this will keep precipitation amounts at a minimum for the region. The New England states won't be so lucky, as this system looks to develop into a Nor'easter.

What this means for us is clouds build in after dark with rain and snow showers developing just before midnight (maybe as early as 9pm), changing to all snow early Monday morning. As the low slides over the Appalachians early Monday, much colder air dives in behind it. By Monday afternoon, the cold NW flow will kick in with some gusty winds. We will continue to see off and on snow showers through Monday night, into Tuesday with a dusting to maybe ½” of accumulation.

Tuesday, high pressure builds over the Central Plains. The flow around this high supports the NW flow we’ll continue to see in the High Country. Gusty NW winds and snow showers will persist through Tuesday night as the high pressure slowly moves over the TN valley and Mid-Atlantic.

Wednesday, it seems we catch a bit of a break with the high pressure in place over us. This break is short lived as another clipper low dives into the Plains. This next fast moving system arrives Thursday afternoon with rain and snow showers. Overnight Thursday and into Friday morning, the precipitation changes to all snow as colder air slides in behind the low on gusty NW winds.

By Friday afternoon, the low will have kicked out to the Mid-Atlantic while we will still be under a cold and gusty NW flow. High pressure builds into the MS valley Friday night and into Saturday, helping to sustain our NW flow with off and on snow showers. Saturday, the high will be firmly in place over the lower MS valley while our next clipper system seems to take a more northerly track. We will maintain the NW’ly flow through the weekend with more clouds and snow showers on deck for Saturday afternoon and evening.

Announcements

Using information from RaysWeather.Com

First, all data and forecasts on RaysWeather.Com are the intellectual property of RaysWeather.com, Inc. Here is our usage policy regarding rebroadcast or redistribution of any information from our site...

"The reader is not permitted to reproduce, retransmit, redistribute any weather data, forecasts, analysis, image, or any other product from this site to any other person or entity, in any format by any means. All information, data, and images contained on any page of this site are copyrighted by RaysWeather.Com, Inc. (unless otherwise noted) and is the property of RaysWeather.Com, Inc. Information, data, and images from this site may not be archived or stored for future use. Exceptions to this condition of use may only be made by express, written permission of RaysWeather.Com." See our Terms and Conditions page.

In short, if you do not have a written agreement with us to do so, you do not have permission to republish any information found on this site. If you work for a media entity (TV, radio, website, newspaper, etc.) and wish to republish information from this site, please contact us at ray@raysweather.com or call our offices at 828.264.2030.