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Rain expected to switch to wintry mix as cold air moves in

Forecasting winter weather in East Tennessee is a challenge! Rain is expected to change to ice and snow in East Tennessee late Friday.

Knoxville — The rain has switched to snow in Cumberland County and other parts of the Cumberland Plateau as the temperatures continue to drop in East Tennessee. The cold air could also bring a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain before switching to all snow Friday night.

The biggest impacts were expected in the higher elevations of the Cumberland Plateau.

Thankfully, the Plateau has avoided major icing so far and instead has seen light snow with the much colder temps. The Plateau is still under a Winter Weather Advisory through early Saturday morning and will likely still experience slick and snow-covered roads that are not treated. Higher snow totals are expected to be closer to the TN/KY state line overall, where 1 to 2 inches is forecast.

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Temperatures dropped rapidly as arctic air moved into the region. Rain showers will transition to a wintry mix of freezing rain and sleet before becoming all snow tonight.

Timing of the transition to a wintry mix....

Plateau: between now and 7pm.

Valley: between 6 and 10 pm (will happen from WSW to NE up the Valley)

Temperatures will fall into the middle 20s and with wind chills in the teens. Once we transition to snow, we could see accumulations of 1-3" on the Plateau, especially near the Tennessee/Kentucky border. A dusting to 1" will be possible in the Valley with 2-3" expected in the Foothills and Smokies.

In the Valley, we are still expected a transition to light snow showers after around 9pm, with a light accumulation to dusting possible into the overnight. Some untreated roads could become slick and lightly snow-covered as temps drop in the middle 20s overnight.

This has the potential to create slick, icy roads Friday night, but it's not expected to significantly impact road or travel conditions past early Saturday at the moment. You'll definitely want to keep a close eye on the forecast Friday, and it would be a good idea to make plans to stay indoors Friday night to avoid potentially dangerous road conditions.

Snow prediction models show Knoxville and much of East Tennessee receiving between a dusting and a half-inch of accumulation through Saturday morning, with some areas in the northern plateau regions such as LaFollette predicted to receive as much as 1-3 inches. Parts of the foothills and upper elevations of the Smokies could also see around 1-3 inches.

The models will put most of the snow to our north in Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio.

The 10Weather team will be monitoring this system as we get closer, so please tune in for our latest forecasts during the newscasts, or at any time on social media!

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