KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — We are seeing a much busier weather pattern now that we've moved into January, with active weather moving through the region every few days instead of only once a week.
The first of two strong low-pressure systems will arrive overnight tonight into Saturday morning.
Winds will become breezy in the mountains this evening, possibly gusting up to 65 mph in the high elevations where a High Wind Warning is in effect overnight into Saturday morning.
Temperatures will fall into the middle 30s overnight tonight, ahead of moisture moving into the region.
With cold air in place, we may see a light wintry mix at the onset of precipitation very early Saturday morning.
Any frozen precipitation will quickly change over to all liquid with periods of heavy rain possible through the first half of the day on Saturday.
The good news is that the whole day won't be a washout. We'll likely have a break in the scattered showers during the afternoon before another wave of moisture wraps around on the back side of the low Saturday night into Sunday.
Breezy southwest winds could gust up to 20 mph Sunday afternoon with off-and-on light rain showers in the low elevations and snow showers with minimal accumulations in the Mountains.
Rainfall totals through the weekend should generally be less than 1 inch with most locations seeing around 1/2 inch of rain.
Heads up if you'll be traveling east into North Carolina or northeast into Virginia this weekend!
Freezing rain (ice) and accumulating snow will create hazardous road conditions tonight through the day on Saturday. Avoid travel to these areas if possible.
Another strong low-pressure system will move into the region early next week and could bring gusty winds, heavy rain and possibly some wintry weather to East Tennessee.
Check back for updates!
