Western North Carolina is expected to see some snow Friday afternoon with cold temperatures. How long the frozen precipitation will last is up for debate.
A herd of cows is pictured after a 2021 snowstorm in Burke County.
Mike Rehnberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said snow in the area from Marion to Statesville is expected to start Friday afternoon or evening, with the precipitation coming from the southwest. That means Marion and Â鶹´«Ã½ will see the start of the winter weather around 3 to 5 p.m., with Statesville seeing snow starting around 7 p.m. Friday.
“We expect it to start out as snow. And then it's a question of just whether or not it'll change over to ice during the nighttime hours,†Rehnberg said.
One weather model predicts the earliest start at around 1 p.m. Friday around Marion, he said. If snow starts out that early, it likely will start as rain then transition to snow.
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“So kind of the trend that we're expecting is for this to start out as maybe a quick shot of maybe some rain and sleet mix,†Rehnberg said. “But for the most part, we would expect this to start out as snow."
Temperatures in the area will be in the 20s, with Marion expected to see the lowest at around 24 to 25 degrees due to its higher elevation, Rehnberg said. For Marion, Morganton, Hickory and Statesville, the high on Friday is about 40 degrees and the low Friday night is about 26, according to the National Weather Service.
Rehnberg said he’s confident the area will see some snow but he’s not ruling out the potential for ice.
“It's more a question of kind of what's going to be happening aloft, whether the kind of dynamics and conditions that higher up in the atmosphere are going to be more conducive to snow, or whether they're going to be more conducive to ice, and that's kind of what's in question,†Rehnberg said. “You know, unfortunately, we have some models that are pretty confidently forecasting the potential for ice, but then we have other models that are confidently forecasting the potential for snow, and this is one of those situations where we're not really going to know with much confidence what to expect until maybe 48 hours out.â€
He said the winter precipitation will move out quickly and by 1 p.m. Saturday it should be over.
Driving conditions may not be good Saturday night.
“On Saturday night it's going to be down in the low 20s, and some places along I-40 might even see temperatures in the upper teens on Saturday night,†Rehnberg said. “So certainly, anything that is still on the ground is going to refreeze Saturday night.â€
