Forecast Last Updated at Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 6:07PM

Turning Much Colder; Flurries Tonight

A strong cold front will move across the area this evening bringing much colder air with it. Behind the front, clouds return and scattered flurries and snow showers are expected in the mountains (possibly beginning as light rain showers). Click here for our forecast snow accumulation map through noon Friday. A few flurries may make it east of the mountains, but don’t get your hopes up in the Foothills. The big story will be the wind and cold tonight into Friday. 45+ mph wind gusts are expected in the mountains with 30+ mph gusts in the Foothills. The wind dies down Friday night allowing temperatures to drop off quickly into the teens and 20’s. As we head into the weekend, temperatures rebound some on Saturday, then drop back down Sunday. Saturday looks dry, but we can’t say the same for Sunday.

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Thursday Hi: 50 Lo: 25 Clouds return tonight with scattered flurries & snow showers developing (may mix with rain initially); Wind becoming NW 10-20 mph with gusts to 35 mph

Friday Hi: 41 Lo: 19 Mostly to partly cloudy; AM flurries; Breezy & cold; NW wind 15-25 mph with gusts to 40 mph; Diminishing wind Fri. night

Saturday Hi: 46 Lo: 28 Partly sunny; North wind 5-10 mph

Sunday Hi: 44 Lo: 28 Cloudy; Daytime rain; Rain may mix with or change to snow late Sun. night

Monday Hi: 35 Lo: 16 Mostly to partly cloudy & cold; AM snow showers & flurries possible; Blustery

Further Out

Tuesday - Scattered clouds; Remaining chilly; High in the upper 30s; Low in the lower 20s
Wednesday - Mostly cloudy; Light daytime rain possible; High in the lower 40s; Low in the mid 20s

Forecast Discussion

On the weather map, low pressure is moving through the Great Lakes with a cold front trailing SW into the TN Valley. Behind the front, a much colder airmass moves in on a gusty, NW wind. In the mountains, that NW wind will lead to upslope snow showers and flurries tonight into Friday morning. Initially, some rain may mix in for the mountain valleys. Much of the SW NC mountains will see a dusting at most through Friday morning. However, the favored upslope areas north and west of Asheville could see an inch or two. For now, no snow is expected east of the mountains.

Really, the bigger story with this front will be the cold and windy conditions that develop tonight and continue on through Friday afternoon. In the mountains we are expecting wind gusts in the 40-50 mph range with 25-35 mph gusts in the Foothills. The wind, of course, will make it feel even colder. High pressure builds back in Friday night allowing the wind to diminish.

The high moves east over the weekend with a southerly wind bringing moisture and relatively milder air back into the area briefly on Saturday. Then, the forecast becomes more uncertain as we head into Sunday and Monday. An upper level disturbance, originating near Alaska, will reach WNC on Sunday. However, the models have had a harder time with this feature. For now, we are thinking rain areawide on Sunday followed by a changeover to snow or snow showers in the mountains Sunday night. Temperatures will be more borderline in the Foothills, so for now we are not expecting a changeover there, but it bears watching.

Behind that system we get another shot of much colder air. The next system reaches the area on Wednesday with some light precipitation possible.

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