Weather

Weather turns wet, wintry for the weekend, Fishel says

Wet weather returns to central North Carolina through the weekend, and some communities along the Virginia border could even see snow.

Posted Updated

By
Greg Fishel & Mike Maze
, WRAL meteorologists
RALEIGH, N.C. — Wet weather kicks off the weekend in central North Carolina, and some communities along the Virginia border could even see snow.

"Clouds are coming into the area tonight, and precipitation will make its way in tomorrow," WRAL Chief Meteorologist Greg Fishel said. "Temperatures are a little warmer than yesterday, but this is still well below normal."

That outlook has already forced some communities to cancel or move planned Easter egg hunts.

Some of that precipitation will be a rain/snow mix, especially across the northern half of the state.

Fishel said precipitation will reach the Raleigh area around 3 p.m. Saturday and fall into early Sunday.

"Accumulations will be zero to very little," WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said. "This is probably more sleet than snow."

Maze said the likelihood and intensity of snow is even less than the area saw on Wednesday.

Rain arrives during the day Saturday but we do expect some of the northern counties to see this transition over to a wintry mix. I don't think the pink region will see all snow out of this. The all snow region should be in blue and well to our northwest. Areas to the south will be all rain. We do expect a soaking tomorrow night with some locations seeing up to an inch of rain. If there is any accumulation in our northern counties it would be mainly on elevated surfaces and would be slushy. Air temperatures during the event should remain mainly above freezing which means roads should be okay. If this changes we will let you know!

Still, those up early enough on Sunday could see some flakes, even as far south as Raleigh.

"The snow will not reach into the southern counties at all," Fishel said. "This is mainly going to be in the northern counties with a few flakes mixed in here and there in the Triangle."

With low temperatures only expected to drop to about 34 degrees in Raleigh, surfaces won't freeze and any snow that falls won't stick.

Fishel said road conditions should not be affected Sunday morning if you're headed out for services.

Precipitation will taper off as sleet and light rain Sunday morning. The afternoon looks dry, but it will be cloudy and chilly.

"The vast majority of Sunday will be free of rain, so it isn't going to be a weekend washout by any stretch of the imagination," Fishel said.

7-Day Forecast

Snow this late in the season is nothing new for Raleigh. In 1983, more than an inch of snow fell on April 18, and the record for the month is 10 inches on April 3, 1915.

Monday warms up a bit, with forecast highs of 55 degrees, before the sun begins to return Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday and Friday brings a chance of rain yet again.

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