The long-term forecast for later this week has changed hour to hour over the last few days, but as we get closer to the Christmas weekend, it seems that meteorologists now have a better idea of what to expect.
Will it be 7-11” of snow as originally predicted or more like 1.5” of rain?
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Thomas Kines said it’s somewhere in between.
Kines said that the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia will have to deal with freezing rain Thursday morning. However, the temperatures should rise above freezing Thursday afternoon.
Rain is likely to continue Thursday night, he said, and it could be heavy at times.
The heavy rain and potential freezing rain has AccuWeather experts listing the entire state under poor travel conditions for Thursday.
“As the storm pulls away Friday, much colder air will arrive, and the rain might end briefly as snow around sunrise Friday.”
Temperatures Friday will fall into the 20s.
The weekend forecast can be best described as cold. Nighttime temperatures will fall to around 10 degrees with afternoon temperatures in the 20s. However, Kines said, the wind will make it feel 10-20 degrees colder.
“For those hoping for a white Christmas, it doesn’t look good,” he said.
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