Winter Storm Sets Sights On East TN

The weather is the big story once again. Things are rather quiet now, but that is the calm before the storm…literally. A major winter storm will begin impacting our weather Saturday morning. All of East Tennessee will go under a Winter Storm Watch at 1am Saturday morning. That will be in effect until 7pm on Sunday.

What can we expect? That is the $64,000 question right now. Currently, the National Weather Service is saying that areas north of Interstate 40 will see mainly snow. In fact, areas closer to the Kentucky border and Viginia border could see 6 inches or more of snow. South of I-40, they expect more of a wintry mix. Depending on the temperature, which is going to be hovering right around the freezing mark, we could see rain, but that could mix with snow. Saturday night is when we have the major concern for possible freezing rain. That could lead to ice on power lines and trees, which could lead to power outages. If the system tracks more to the south of us, that would mean more snow. The farther north the system goes, the more likely we see ice or rain.

Also keep in mind that if we receive more of an icy mix, travel will be hazardous, if not impossible Saturday night and Sunday. After the storm, temperatures will plummet, leaving us in the deep freeze till Tuesday. The high temperature Monday afternoon will only be in the mid-20’s and Monday night we will be in the single digits. Just make sure you are prepared for any bad weather.