The forecast from the National Weather Service promises 50-degree plus temperatures over the next two days, followed by high 40s and “drenching rain” on Saturday.

Pleasant temperatures and sunlight will start the melting of the concrete-hard ice and snow that still lingers from the Dec. 18 snowfall that dumped more up to two-feet of snow on Southwestern Virginia with Saturday’s rain accelerating the process and turning the vast expanses of white into a sea of mud and leaving roads littered with potholes and leftover debris from the brutal weather of the first three weeks of winter.

We could get some flooding, but that will be the price of relief from the bitter cold that has gripped the region over the past month.

Overnight lows will still dip below freezing tonight and Friday night, meaning ice on the roads from moisture leftover from the melting the day before so drivers should take care in the morning commute.

Still, it will take time for the mountains of snow left from clearing parking lots and roads to completely disappear and Floyd County drivers should remain on the lookout for black ice on the roads and bridges at night and during the morning hours.

Hang in there. We will have more blasts of artic air in February but a little relief is here.

Enjoy.