A white Christmas? Maybe

Published 4:36 pm Tuesday, December 22, 2020

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If the weather forecast is right, it will be cold!
The National Weather Service’s forecast calls for an arctic blast to move into the area Christmas Eve bringing a chance of a white Christmas.
Gusty winds are in the forecast for today, however, temperatures are expected to remain in the mid-50s.
But, come Thursday a strong arctic front with a drastic drop in temperatures is expected to move across Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Southwest Virginia. 
Moderate to heavy rain can be expected area-wide for late Wednesday night and Thursday with windy conditions across the mountains and foothills of far east Tennessee. Very cold air will build into the area on Thursday, and linger through Friday night. Rain will change to snow Thursday afternoon with a brief period of moderate to heavy snow possible, especially across southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee. Snow showers will linger through at least Friday morning. Snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are possible across northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and far east Tennessee Mountains. For the Cumberland Plateau, parts of the central valley, and southwest North Carolina, snowfall of 1 inch is possible.
Cold and blustery conditions will continue on Christmas Day along with scattered snow showers with additional light accumulations possible, up to an inch or two in the mountains, and a dusting to half an inch in spots around the Tri-Cities. Temperatures will be very cold, with chill values in the single digits in the mountains to the mid teens in the Tri-Cities.
Travel late Thursday and Thursday night may become hazardous with snow and ice covered roadways, especially across bridges and overpasses.  The very cold airmass along with breezy west to northwest winds will produce dangerous wind chills from 5 below zero to 5 above zero across the higher terrain for late Thursday through Friday night. 

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