A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Eastern North Carolina per the Tuesday afternoon update from the National Weather Service Newport / Morehead City office.
The highest impacts will be on the mainland, west of Route 17, and the rainfall that may turn into eventual snow is forecasted to begin on Wednesday evening at roughly 5 p.m.
The forecasted accumulation of snow dropped to less than an inch for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands in the most recent briefing. However, with temperatures expected to be in the 20s on early Thursday morning, icing is possible with wet surfaces freezing.
It will likely be a short lived freeze, as highs will bounce back to the 40s on Thursday, and will climb to the high 40s / low 50s on Friday.
As a cold front crosses the region on Wednesday, precipitation will initially fall as rain, with temperatures above freezing. Then, beginning in the early afternoon, rain will change to snow from west to east as temperatures drop below freezing.
With light to moderate snow falling during the evening commute, snow covered roads will likely impact travel. Snow will fall all the way to the Outer Banks by the evening, and will taper off by Wednesday night.
Rough seas and strong wind gusts are also forecast from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning in all coastal waters.
For more information, visit www.weather.gov/mhx for weather forecast information, or the National Weather Service office in Newport / Morehead City’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NWSMoreheadCity/.
