At 5 PM...mostly sunny. Temperature around 37. East winds around 5 mph. At 7 PM...partly cloudy. Temperature around 34. Southeast winds around 5 mph. At 9 PM...mostly cloudy. Temperature around 32. Southeast winds around 5 mph. At 11 PM...mostly cloudy. Temperature around 31. Southeast winds around 5 mph. At 1 am...mostly cloudy. Temperature around 30. Southeast winds around 5 mph. At 3 am...mostly cloudy. Temperature around 28. Southeast winds around 5 mph.
Forecast for Raleigh
Updated: 4:31 PM EST on December 17, 2009
Winter Storm Watch in effect from Friday evening through late Saturday night...
Tonight
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 20s. Southeast winds around 5 mph.
Friday
Cloudy. Rain likely in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 30s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Snow and rain likely in the evening...then snow after midnight. Snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches. Cold with lows in the upper 20s. East winds 10 to 15 mph...becoming northeast after midnight. Gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of precipitation 90 percent.
Saturday
Snow. Additional several inches of snow accumulation. Cold with highs around 30. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 90 percent.
Snow likely. Additional light snow accumulation possible. Cold with lows in the lower 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.
Sunday
Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow showers. Highs in the upper 20s.
... Winter Storm Watch in effect from Friday evening through late Saturday night...
The National Weather Service in Charleston has issued a Winter Storm Watch... which is in effect from Friday evening through late Saturday night.
A major well organized winter storm will impact much of West Virginia along with southwest Virginia Friday night into Saturday night. The low center will track from the Gulf of Mexico northeast to the southeast coast by Friday evening... .and then right on up the East Coast through Saturday night.
With the low originating in the Gulf... precipitation will advance northward into the watch area late Friday and quickly overspread the watch area Friday evening. It will start off as rain or a rain and snow mix late Friday... but cooling in advance of the storm will cause a quick changeover to all snow Friday night.
The precipitation will remain all snow as it continues into Saturday... before starting to taper off from southwest to northeast. The initial band of snow Friday that arrives Friday evening can bring about a few inches accumulation quickly Friday night. Altogether... the heaviest accumulations are expected to occur from Friday night into Saturday... even as the snow varies in intensity. Significant snow accumulation is likely by dawn Saturday.
Total snowfall accumulation potential ranges from a half a foot for the West Virginia lowlands and a foot or even better for the mountains when all is said and done late Saturday night. Lighter snow will linger into Sunday.
A Winter Storm Watch means there is a potential for significant snow accumulations that may impact travel. Rain or wet snow at the start late Friday evening may result in a thin layer of ice under the snow by Saturday morning.