Winter Storm Watch for Friday

A WINTER STORM WATCH has been issued by the National Weather Service for most of the Channel 9 viewing area. This includes the city of Charlotte.

A strong area of low pressure will move in from the Gulf of Mexico over the next 24 hours, giving many their first taste of wintry weather this season. How much snow we see is still up in the air but here is what we know now.

The wet weather will likely start as rain, or a rain/sleet/snow mix by mid to late morning on Friday. For the Charlotte metro, we may see an extended period of this mix throughout the day on Friday. This would likely keep everything just wet during the day on Friday but by Friday night as colder air works in to the region, a change over to wet snow is possible. Only a minor accumulation is expected at this time for the metro.

On the other hand, in the mountains and foothills, the changeover to snow will happen much earlier in the day on Friday. This could cause slick travel conditions to arise by Friday afternoon. Snow accumulation of several inches is likely in the high country from Boone and Blowing Rock down to Lenoir and Hickory. It is still too early to nail down exactly how much will fall but this could cause some big travel headaches through Saturday.

Since this storm is still hundreds of miles away, this forecast will likely change, and even change significantly in the next 12 hours. Stay tuned for the latest updates.