Yes. that was spitting snow as the sun set over our part of Southwestern Virginia Friday night.  For a while it looked like it might stick.

It came in right at nightfall and went away as quickly as it appeared.

Some of the white stuff made U.S. 221 and Virginia Route 8 slick in a few spots, for a while.

But the minor flurry of white stuff blew through the area, literally, by 9:00 p.m. and the cold night sky opened up with a bright partial moon and skies.

The snow was gone but the cold stayed around, along with gusting winds, that drove the 23-25 degrees even lower and sent many home where it could be warm.

Drove through the brief snow the snow during the drive home.  Stopped a couple of time to snap pictures.  By the time I got home, it had stopped and the night time sky opened up with stars and moonlight.

Venturing into C’Burg on the last Friday before Christmas showed heavy trafic on the streets and people in the stores.

Those in town weren’t just shopping.  Regal Cinemas at New River Mall had overflow crowds for the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Although Friday was the “official” opening many theaters around the country had advance screenings on Thursday and the wire services report the film should bring in a record $250 million in the United States alone for the opening weekend and is expected to become the highest grossing film to date.

After an overnight low of about 23 on the weather front, Saturday is not expected to climb higher than 41 degrees before heading back below freezing to 25 overnight.

Sunday is expected a little warmer — 48 degrees — with next week starting to edge back up to 67 with rain and then 66 degrees on Christmas Day with lows in the 50s.

Call it a Christmas gift from Mother Nature.