Below 32°F Thur, Fri, & Sat Nights

Good morning folks! Snow is falling this morning across the region but not heavy enough for any accumulations outside the TN line and nearby ridgelines. Beech Mountain and other nearby ranges (Roan for example) picked up a dusting to an inch of snow, which seems to be the sweet spot for this minor, late season event. We'll deal with an unseasonably cold and windy day today but we also kick off a stretch of dry weather that is likely to last into the middle of next week! Temps remain below average Friday alongside steady northerly winds, but this will give way to a gradual warmup this weekend, with temps returning to the low - upper 60's Saturday into Sunday. We climb back to the 70's on Monday and peak to the mid - upper 70's Tuesday and Wednesday as an upper level ridge brings an increase to temps across the Southeast. The models are showing a light rain event for Thursday but this could shift back into Wednesday, with no real confidence on timing till sometime Sunday or Monday. Overnight lows will continue to settle below the freezing mark and a hard freeze will occur tonight and Friday night for all of SW NC, followed by an elevation dependent frost Saturday night. It looks like we return to above freezing overnight lows Sunday night and this should hold throughout the week.

For the rest of the afternoon, we'll continue to see sunny skies covering much of SW NC, with a steady stream of light flurries and partly cloudy skies holding strong along the TN line and northern Haywood County. This may take till the evening hours to completely fizzle out, with mostly clear skies taking over for the rest of the night. NW wind speeds will push to 10 - 20mph across the region today, gusting to 40mph above 4000' and this will continue throughout the night, with overnight lows in the low teens - low 20's depending upon elevation.

Friday will be another sunny yet chilly day as temps peak to the 30's - upper 40's across the region; we could break into the low 50's closer to the GA line. NW winds turn slightly out of the north but wind speeds will remain steady around 10 - 20mph till the early - mid afternoon hours, calming down to a light breeze overnight. With low dewpoints, little to no wind, and clear skies, temps will plummet once again to the upper teens - mid 20's across the region.

Sunshine dominates the weekend as high pressure passes overhead and temps gradually warm to the low - mid 60's across the valleys on Saturday, peaking to the upper 60's on Sunday. Overnight lows settle into the low - mid 30's Saturday night and patchy frost is possible above 3500', while overnight lows Sunday night dip into the mid 30's - low 40's; both nights under clear skies.

We hit the repeat button for Monday and Tuesday and the only difference will be temps climbing even higher to the low - mid 70's, likely hitting the upper 70's on Wednesday. Enjoy the sunshine and dry stretch and it looks like we will have to wait till Thursday for our next rain event. We'll circle back Saturday morning with a new discussion.