Rain is still falling across southern West Virginia for your Sunday night and it will last through your early Monday morning. Most of the rain should be parting our area around noon and the clouds should clear out for a gorgeous Columbus Day evening. Dry weather will remain with us Tuesday and most of Wednesday before rain activity returns Thursday and Friday.
With Friday, a cold front is expected to move through our area around noon on the European model and slightly later on the GFS. The difference in strength and timing of this cold front within the models is very clear and needs to be ironed out to see better on what our Bridge Day looks like. With current thinking, it’ll be a cold bridge day but the rain seems to move through before it.
If the cold front ends up being delayed a little longer, then some active weather is possible early Saturday morning before the sun rises, but should clear up in time for the majority of Bridge Day activities. If the cold front comes through as the European model shows, then most of the rain is out by Friday evening and temperatures will start to drop rapidly into Saturday morning, potentially reaching the mid 30’s for some.
As we look at the rainfall, there is also a major difference between the Euro and GFS. The European model, which is shown below, highlights nearly 2 inches of rain for our northern areas while the GFS has nearly a half an inch. The key in the differences relates back to the timing. The GFS has the rain coming through when temperatures are a little cooler and turn some of the rain into snow flurries in the higher elevation areas, while the European keeps the rain as temperatures are well above freezing.
Taking a look at the full 7 day forecast and we are expecting mainly early showers for Columbus Day that lead to a beautiful Tuesday and Wednesday. These days will also be quite a bit above average so make sure you enjoy the upper 70’s before the cold front comes crashing through on Friday. Temperatures could drop nearly 30 degrees from the high on Wednesday to the high on Saturday. Widespread frost is also possible Saturday and Sunday as temperatures dip into the upper to low 30’s. We are going to watch the trend of models to see what time that cold front could make an appearance.
Watch the full forecast below!
