Weather

As we get started on a new week, a cold front and some shenanigans with it will be the main story, and all that happens right off the jump later Sunday night into Monday morning. Here’s a timeline of what’s coming and the calm weather that follows the rest of the week.

As of 1pm Sunday afternoon, the weather is just fine. We sit in the upper 60s in a lot of the area, a day that will most certainly end up above 70 by the end of it. Warm conditions tend to happen just before a cold front moves through, and that makes tomorrow a very interesting day.

Tonight, we should be dry for the most part. There could be some stray showers or storms, but the main event will be a line of showers and storms that arrives around 4am or so. As usual, the farther west you are, the sooner this happens.

Those storms will be loud, with lots of lightning and thunder, enough to wake up some people. Keep that in mind as you prepare tonight…if you can sleep through it, someone else nearby may not. The storms will most likely bring gusty winds, some that could cause damage, so be aware of that for possible power outage potential. The straight-line winds are the main threat it appears.

We do have a small (but not zero) chance of a tornado embedded in that line of storms. If you have a weather radio and it’s turned on, you’re fine. Your phone will also alert you in case of a warning. Make sure all those settings are on, since most will be asleep when all the storms happen. The warning will come up most of the time before the storm arrives, so you’ll have time to prepare.

Once the storms are gone in the early morning, the cold front moves through. That will bring about a change from the post-frontal scattered showers to post-frontal snow showers. We will start out with temperatures in the low 60s with the storms in the morning, then we’ll see almost a 30 degree drop behind the front in the afternoon, bringing the chance of snow showers.

Of course, everyone wants to know how much snow. Well, for most of the Tri-Cities, nor much. Snow will possibly cover the ground and cars, but that’s probably it. Higher elevations will have snow that can be measured, most likely on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as the farther north you go in Southwest Virginia. It shouldn’t be a crippling snow for anyone, though.

As always, the farther the system gets from us, the better the weather will get. Tuesday will be cold with temperatures starting near 20 and not getting out of the 30s. It’ll be another cold night before things warm up for Wednesday into the upper 40s with partly cloudy skies.

The rest of the week looks fine. By Thursday, we’ll be back to about our average for mid-March temperature wise, with sunny skies. Friday looks like a beautiful day, as we warm up into the upper 60s to finish the week.

So, we have a few hurdles to get through early in the week with storms and snow and cold, but we’ll warm up late in the week with fantastic weather by Thursday and Friday. At this time of year, it’s never too hot or too cold for too long, and that’s the story this week!