It looks like we are going to have another taste of Jack Frost’s (or Elsa’s) winter weather making potential, although it won’t be quite as nice as the last experience. I am writing this from my phone as my computer is packed and ready to go back to Iowa with us tomorrow (my wife Cassie and I are driving, so that’ll be fun haha!) so I’ll get right into it:
Things may start as early as Saturday afternoon for NW and NC North Carolina and will likely be light snow. As the day progresses, wintry precipitation will build in from the SW portions of the state likely in the form of sleet or a mix, with not much snow accumulation. This mix will continue its path into central and north central NC by late Sunday morning. Saturday overnight the p-type (precipitation type) will likely make a transition back to snow and the foothills and NW piedmont should see some accumulation up to a few inches. Unfortunately it looks as though even Asheville will only see sleet and freezing rain from this event, so only places such as Mt. Airy, Boone, Grandfather Mountain, and Winston Salem will see snow accumulation.
Freezing rain looks to be the main hazard with this storm. While dynamics within the weather models are good, it’s hard to predict the future. However, right now the models are showing between 0.25 and 0.4” of freezing rain across most of the western half of the state (cut by US-64). The Sandhills will experience mostly rain if any precipitation at all, and closer to the coast south and east will be drier with this storm. New Bern, Elizabethton, Kitty Hawk, and up into Virginia Beach can expect the heaviest precipitation, the vast majority of which will be rain.
