Frigid Today, Winter Storm Fri-Sat

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- First Alert!

In the short term, cold remains the word. After temperatures failed to hit 40 for the second time this month on Wednesday, many places repeated the same thing today. It will end up an even colder night tonight, thanks to lighter winds amid clear skies.

While metro areas in the Triangle will drop to 20, most suburbs will easily dip into the teens, perhaps making this the coldest night of the season thus far for many. A similar cold to today's is ahead tomorrow, as clouds quickly thicken from the west.

As of this writing, radars are blossoming with precipitation across the Southern Plains and Arklatex from the storm approaching from the west.

It appears that precipitation will fall as a mix of snow and sleet for a few hours at the onset on Friday evening. With energy becoming strung out, not much more than an inch or two can be managed, before a period of freezing rain later at night and into early Saturday as a warm tongue arrives at 700-850 MB. Ice amounts in the range of about a tenth to 0.15 of an inch are currently expected, which is more than enough to cause big issues for travel for a few hours. However, as quickly as the precipitation arrives, it will depart on Saturday, and by midday and afternoon, temperatures will be up into the 40s with the sun out, promoting quick melting.

After the storm, an extended period of quiet weather is ahead. A brief warm-up ahead of a front into Monday (and to a certain degree Tuesday, since modeling is a bit slower with the FROPA will be replaced by another cold day Wednesday, where the mercury stays in the 30s during the day and dips into the teens for a couple of nights. A less amplified upper-level pattern will keep storm chances low in this timeframe.

Have a great evening!

Big Weather