The workweek closes out with school still closed, more sporting events postponed. Icy conditions and hazardous spots on secondary roads made it easy for Floyd County Schools to remain closed Friday. Last weekend’s storm would have closed the schools Monday, but classes were already canceled for Martin Luther King Day, but the bad conditions kept the system shut down for the following four days.
Varsity and JV basketball games against Pulaski at the Alan Cantrell Gym at FCHS on Friday evening are now postponed to Feb. 9. Pulaski closed their schools Friday but transferred closed to online “virtual learning.”
Montgomery County schools are closed, while Roanoke City and County are open for class “virtually” via computers.
Floyd County woke up to low temperatures in the mid-teens, and the National Weather Service forecast predicts a high of about 24 during the day before plunging to 10 degrees or possibly lower. Saturday is expected to top edge above freezing to 35, then 38 on Sunday and 41 on Monday, but freezing overnight lows remain and the rest of January will see highs in the 30s with sub-freezing lows.
Planning to go out today? The temperature projections say the high of 24 should arrive starting at 2 p.m. and will last for about three hours (until 5 p.m.). The NWS forecast says snow showers are possible this evening but with little or no accumulation.
Groundhog Day arrives on Feb. 2, assuming the rodent up in Pennsylvania hasn’t frozen to death. On that day, the high in Floyd County is forecast to be 41 degrees — the first venture of the thermometer out of the 30s in eight days.
A chance for better weather ahead? We can hope but don’t bet on it. Mother Nature has been in a bad mood so far this year.
Be careful out there.