NWS Winter Weather Advisory (Avery County)

Current Conditions
Crossnore

Temp: 44.9°F

Forecast Last Updated at Monday, March 17, 2014 at 7:26AM

Rain/Freezing Rain Tapering to Drizzle/Freezing Drizzle

Cold air has wedged down the east side of the Appalachians making conditions very different east (colder near the Blue Ridge) to west (milder near the TN/NC state line). Precipitation is moving across the region this morning--rain west and freezing rain/sleet east. Icing has mostly been limited to trees, decks, and other exposed surfaces near the Blue Ridge from Sugar Mountain to the northeast into Virginia. However, some sleet has mixed in and there are some slick places on roads in that narrow corridor on the east side of the Appalachians. Precipitation tapers to drizzle west and freezing drizzle east this afternoon, tonight and early Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon, the entire region will be above freezing--just drizzle. Wednesday will be milder with spotty drizzle and light rain. Fog will be an issue especially on the east side of the Appalachians today until Wednesday morning.

Monday Hi: 35 Lo: 31 Cloudy with fog; AM rain/freezing rain/sleet tapering to PM drizzle/freezing drizzle; East wind 5-10 mph becoming light tonight

Tuesday Hi: 43 Lo: 32 Cloudy with fog; Drizzle/freezing drizzle becoming just drizzle in the PM; Light SE wind becoming 5-15 mph in the PM

Wednesday Hi: 51 Lo: 34 Generally cloudy; Less cold; Spotty light rain possible; South wind 5-10 mph becoming NW 10-20 mph after midnight Wed. night

Thursday Hi: 52 Lo: 29 Finally some sun; Cool

Friday Hi: 58 Lo: 37 Daytime sun; Milder; Clouds increase at night

Further Out

Saturday - Mostly cloudy; Spotty showers possible; High in the mid 50s; Low in the upper 20s
Sunday - Mostly clear; Chilly; High in the upper 40s; Low in the mid 20s

Forecast Discussion

The weather pattern settled into a classic cold air damming look--colder east than west. It's generally above freezing south of Watauga County and in the western half of the mountain region from Watauga north. There's a narrow band of below freezing temperatures from the base of Sugar Mountain to the northeast along the Blue Ridge. Elsewhere temperatures are generally above freezing. With a band of precipitation moving northeast across the region this morning, expect rain west but freezing rain east. We watchful for slick spots--walking may be more difficult than driving. Precipitation tapers to drizzle/freezing drizzle this afternoon and all but the coldest valleys along the Blue Ridge will edge above freezing this afternoon.

The cold wedge will be stubborn through Tuesday morning keeping drizzle/freezing drizzle in the forecast through Tuesday morning. The wedge will erode enough Tuesday afternoon to get everyone above freezing with just drizzle; however, a little freezing drizzle will be possible again along the Blue Ridge north of Blowing Rock Tuesday night.

Dense fog will be an issue today through Wednesday morning especially in that same problem area... the east side of the Appalachians (near the Blue Ridge).

A front moves through from the west Wednesday with spotty light rain possible. Temperatures will be milder.

Sunshine finally returns for Thursday and Friday. Friday will be a few degrees warmer than Thursday.

The next front from the west moves through Saturday with clouds and spotty light showers. Sunday looks mostly clear and slightly colder.

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.