Raleigh, N.C. — The Triangle is almost certainly in for a messy day on Thursday, with a mix of snow, freezing rain and rain, but timing is the question.

WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said that computer models suggested Tuesday night that the morning commute may be dry, and then precipitation will begin.

Light snow and freezing rain are expected at first, then freezing rain and rain into mid afternoon and rain into the evening. Highs will be in the lower to mid 30s.

Snow could accumulate 1 to 2 inches in Raleigh and points north and west.

The atmosphere aloft should warm in the early afternoon, Fishel said, and snow would change to freezing rain as rain in the upper air fell into colder air near the surface. The precipitation should change to all rain, however, as the system move to the northwest and warmer air covers the region. How long it takes the precipitation to shift over to rain in the north and west is one of the issues forecasters are watching.

The current picture has precipitation beginning as snow north and west of the Triangle, freezing rain through the central Triangle, and Rain south and east when it all begins. The lines separating those types of precipitation will march northwest during the day, and all of the Triangle should be getting rain by Thursday night, Fishel said.