Weather! Chilly, rainy Friday gives way to clear, cool weekend

Keep an umbrella and some extra layers around today; the clear skies and mild temperatures aren’t going last through the day.

December 16, 2011; 9:48 AM • by Weather Dan

Temperatures peaked today at 63 around midnight; they’ve already begun to fall as a cold front begins to swing across Virginia. Currently we’re back up to 60 after hitting 57 just a couple hours ago, but I expect those to continue to fall again through the morning hours and the rest of the day. In Roanoke, temperatures also hit 63 at midnight, and they’re already down to 51 and falling, and Blacksburg is already at 46. The key for the big temperature drop will be to watch the winds. Once they switch from coming out of the southwest to out of the northwest, you’ll see temperatures drop sharply.

This is all thanks to an area of low pressure riding along a cold front that stretches from the northeast back to Louisiana. It’s going to bring some precip along with the cooler temperatures, too; the main batch of rain is still working its way across the mountains of far southwestern Virginia.

Friday: Expect temperatures to fall into the low 40s by early Saturday morning. Rain should pick up this afternoon, ending around sunrise tomorrow. Gusty winds are likely, especially after the front passes. with max gusts of 25-30 mph.

Saturday: Clearing begins Saturday afternoon. Highs near 45, with a low of 30 Saturday night. Winds again will be gusty during the day, topping out around 20 mph.

Sunday: Expect some frost early Sunday morning. Partly to mostly sunny skies will allow highs to climb into the upper 40s. Lows Sunday night will fall into the mid 30s.

High pressure will build in for the first part of next week, allowing temperatures to climb back into the 50s for the start of the week. Our next big round of precip heads into the area on Wednesday, and we’ll do this all over again. Enjoy your weekend!

December 16, 2011 9:48 AM 0