Clear skies overnight and very dry air allowed a lot of yesterday's warmth to radiate away into space. This - Friday - morning's temperatures dropped to "brrrrr" levels, with a trifecta of 21 degree readings in Clarksville, Boydton, and South Hill. Meanwhile the thermometer at the Chase City airport bottomed out at 19.
Today will be a pleasant early January day under sunny skies and with light winds. Afternoon temperatures will reach the mid-40s, a few degrees below the average for this date. Meanwhile the first winter storm system of 2024 is taking shape down along the Texas Gulf Coast as I write this.
As that system swings northeastward tonight clouds will be on the increase locally after the sun sets at 5:12 p.m. today. Temperatures across the county will drop into the upper 20s by midnight. Those readings will then actually rise to near the freezing mark by dawn Saturday as warmer air pushes in ahead of the storm system.
That warming trend is key to the precipitation types expected for Mecklenburg county. Snow would fall if temperatures from the ground all the way up into the storm remained below freezing. However, a "warm nose" will sneak in as the precipitation arrives, creating a scenario which looks to result in a period of freezing rain for parts of Mecklenburg county Saturday morning. This graphic illustrates:
Per NWS Wakefield the northern half of the county is more likely to see freezing rain early Saturday, with the rest of the area receiving a cold rain. Local gauges will collect up to an inch of liquid by the time precipitation ends Saturday evening. Temperatures will actually boost into the upper 40s tomorrow afternoon as that warm air continues to push in across the county.
So folks who head out early tomorrow should be alert to possibly slick sidewalks and roads. Remember, "sleet pings while freezing rain clings", so it may be raining but then freezing once the drops hit a surface which is 32 degrees or cooler. By mid-morning the potential for ice looks to go away as the day warms.
What about Sunday? The latter day of the weekend will be sunny and breezy, with afternoon highs climbing to the mid-50s.
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