CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fans of a White Christmas in the Mountain State could be out of luck this year.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Kistner said the chances are looking slim.
“Even if we do get some snow showers that come through on Saturday morning in areas, we are likely going to warm up in the next couple of days in the afternoon hours. The amounts wouldn’t be significant enough to hang around until Christmas. The chances are very low in the Charleston area and the best chances in the state will be up in the mountains.”
The more common showers the state will be experiencing in the next couple of days and into Christmas will be rain showers. Rain is in the forecast for the majority of the state Thursday evening overnight into Friday, and most of the day Friday into Friday night has led to flood watches being called.
A flood watch has been issued for parts of northeast West Virginia and southeast West Virginia, including the following counties of Pocahontas, Randolph, Webster, Fayette, Nicholas, Raleigh, Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, and Morgan through Friday afternoon.
The watches end Friday afternoon as low temperatures Friday evening into overnight could dip around the freezing mark, potentially causing some tricky roads.
“After the system starts to pull out tomorrow (Friday) night, what is going to happen is, you are going to get colder air that is going to wrap around behind it and you could see some snow showers as well late Friday night into Saturday morning,” Kistner said.
“The bulk of those snow showers are going to be across the mountains but there is even a chance we could see a change over to a few snow showers early Saturday morning in the lower elevations. If that does occur, there is a chance we could have some slick spots on Saturday morning.”
Those lows over the weekend could be the lowest the state sees until 2019. Kistner said the days after Christmas are forecasted to be well above normal.
“Next week, all the forecast guidance is showing high pressure starting to build up again and that warmer air moving back into the area. By the end of next week, you could see some temperatures well above normal, with highs possibly in the upper 50s and even hit 60 next week.”
Kistner said the average temperatures for this time of year across the state is about in the mid-40s.