November is upon us and the first “winter storm warning” of this fall season is upon us.
Blacksburg’s National Weather Service’s Winter Storm warning predicts freezing rain and sleet possible for our area with accumulations of up to two inches sometime between 7 p.m. Wednesday through 2 p.m. Thursday.
Writes Roanoke Times weather guru Kevin Myatt:
Deep down, when we still had summerlike stickiness a month ago with almost no colored leaves to show for fall on the calendar, we all knew we’d be dealing with winter a lot sooner than seemed reasonable.
Thursday morning’s mid-November onset of wintry mix promises to add another chapter to a persistently out-of-season 2018 weather year locally that has included summerlike heat in February, repeat snows in March and April, tropical downpours in May and long-lingering summerlike mugginess that forestalled the onset of fall to nearly Halloween.
Here’s the “official word” from the Weather Service:
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM EST THURSDAY… * WHAT…Freezing rain and sleet. Total sleet accumulations of up to two inches. Ice accumulations up to one half of an inch. * WHERE…Roanoke and New River Valleys west to the Mountain empire area and south into the mountains of northwestern North Carolina. * WHEN…This evening through Thursday afternoon. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice. Wind gusts of 20 to 35 mph at higher elevations will bring down trees limbs and power lines already weighed down with ice. Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact travel for the evening commute today and the morning commute Thursday. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A Winter Storm Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected. Significant amounts of ice and sleet are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Strong winds are also possible. If you must travel…have a winter survival kit with you. &&
More Information
…Wintry Mix Expected Tonight into Thursday… .Low pressure over the Gulf Coast will track across the Tennessee Valley and Carolinas today and tonight before merging into a deeper system off the Mid Atlantic coast Friday. At the same time, cold high pressure will wedge south into our area keeping surface temperatures at or below freezing. This will result in a threat of freezing rain, sleet and snow tonight into Thursday.
The winter storm warning cancelled scheduled Middle School boys and girls basketball games against Carroll County at Floyd County High School Thursday. Two M.S. games for Thursday remain on the schedule.
Best advice: Don’t go out unless you have to and check often to see if scheduled events are cancelled or postponed. We will post news about schools or other events when they come in.
Developing…