Forecast Last Updated at Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 5:24PM

Clear & Cold

The snow is over. Accumulations were as advertised: 1"-3" for most, 3"-6" to the west, a few spots with more on western mountaintops, and a dusting to 1" at lower elevations along the Blue Ridge. The big winner in this event was the Smokies where 6"-12" were common and a few peaks got more than one foot.

Skies are clear tonight with a diminishing northwest wind. Valleys will become very cold (less cold on mountaintops) overnight and into Thursday morning. Thursday brings "kinder and gentler" weather, but clouds increase Thursday night leading to a cloudy Friday. Rain develops Friday afternoon, continuing Friday night. Colder air returns late Friday night with snow showers and flurries continuing into Saturday.

The 2021 Blue Ridge Calendar is in stores now.  Visit RaysMarketPlace.com for a complete listing of retailers or purchase online.  A portion of the proceeds goes to support the important work of the Blue Ridge Conservancy.

Wednesday Hi: 40 Lo: 18 Clear; Colder in valleys than mountaintops; NW wind becoming light

Thursday Hi: 52 Lo: 29 Partly cloudy; Not as cold; Increasing clouds Thur night; Light SW wind, but breezy at higher elev's Thur night

Friday Hi: 49 Lo: 34 Cloudy with PM fog; Rain developing in the afternoon, continuing overnight; Colder late Fri night; Change to snow showers possible late Fri night; SW wind 5-10 mph, but gusty at higher elev's

Saturday Hi: 38 Lo: 24 Mostly cloudy; Snow showers tapering to flurries by afternoon; Colder; Windy daytime; Partial clearing overnight

Sunday Hi: 39 Lo: 25 Mostly sunny day; Cold; A few clouds Sun. night

Further Out

Monday - Mostly to partly cloudy; Chilly; High in the lower 40s; Low in the mid 20s
Tuesday - Mostly clear; Chilly; High in the lower 40s; Low in the upper 20s

Forecast Discussion

High pressure has settled in over the region behind the low pressure system that brought our Monday night and Tuesday snow.

After a rather windy daytime, expect the wind to settle down for the evening and overnight period. There will be a significant temperature inversion tonight (cold valleys, milder mountaintops) under clear skies.

Wednesday will be less cold after a cold start in valleys as high pressure slides east into the Atlantic.

Low pressure develops today in Southeast Texas. It moves east along the Gulf Coast Thursday and Friday. As a result, clouds increase here Thursday night. Friday will be cloudy with light rain and some fog developing in the afternoon. Steadier rain develops Friday night.

Friday night, low pressure will be located to our east allowing a return of cold air. Precipitation changes to snow showers and flurries as early as late Friday night. Saturday is cold and blustery with snow showers tapering to flurries in the afternoon. Only a dusting is expected except at the typical western higher elevations. Sunday has mostly clear skies and cold temperatures.

A weak disturbance moves through the Mid-Mississippi Valley Sunday and across our region Monday. I kept the forecast dry; however, the potential exists for flurries Monday. Tuesday looks mostly clear and chilly.

Announcements

Using information from RaysWeather.Com

First, all data and forecasts on RaysWeather.Com are the intellectual property of RaysWeather.com, Inc. Here is our usage policy regarding rebroadcast or redistribution of any information from our site...

"The reader is not permitted to reproduce, retransmit, redistribute any weather data, forecasts, analysis, image, or any other product from this site to any other person or entity, in any format by any means. All information, data, and images contained on any page of this site are copyrighted by RaysWeather.Com, Inc. (unless otherwise noted) and is the property of RaysWeather.Com, Inc. Information, data, and images from this site may not be archived or stored for future use. Exceptions to this condition of use may only be made by express, written permission of RaysWeather.Com." See our Terms and Conditions page.

In short, if you do not have a written agreement with us to do so, you do not have permission to republish any information found on this site. If you work for a media entity (TV, radio, website, newspaper, etc.) and wish to republish information from this site, please contact us at raysweather.com or call our offices at 828.264.2030.