TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch from late tonight through Wednesday evening for the northern 2/3 of our area, including the Charleston/Huntington metro areas.
The Eyewitness News Storm Team has issued a Weather Alert from late Tuesday through early afternoon Wednesday.
We saw some showers and storms Tuesday, with some more localized activity this afternoon tracking east into the mountains of West Virginia.
Most of us should see quieter, warm weather for the late afternoon/evening hours.
However, we're expecting storms to ramp up in across much of Ohio overnight and those will spread across northern West Virginia (closer to Route 50) just before sunrise.
Overnight storms could produce pockets of damaging wind gusts and perhaps even an isolated tornado, especially in our Ohio Counties.
If you're in those areas you'll want to make sure to have a way of receiving any warnings overnight that can wake you and alert you.
The other threat in those areas will be flooding, with one to three inches of rain likely from late tonight into Wednesday morning. Many roads in Southeast Ohio that typically flood after one inch of rain will likely get closed at some point in that time.
Charleston/Huntington and south are mostly quiet until sunrise which is when that line of storms shifts south with a cold front.
While the risk for severe weather is less than for the northern counties gusts of 40+ mph with heavy rain could cause scattered power outages, and one inch or more of rain in short time can at least cause some street flooding.
Temperatures will start in the 60s but end the day in the 30s.
MONDAY EVENING UPDATE:
A near-perfect day started off the last week of February on Monday as temperatures reached 70 degrees or higher in many valley spots with plenty of sunshine -- easily the warmest so far in 2024.
This was the first 70-degree day in Huntington or Charleston in exactly 100 days.
While the warm weather will continue through Wednesday morning, it won't be nearly as nice.
A potent storm in the northern plains will track into southern Canada over the next 48 hours. The warm front with that system will bring a round of showers and storms Tuesday and the cold front with it will arrive with a squall line of rain and wind Wednesday morning followed by a sharp temperature drop.
While we're quiet most of tonight with mild temperatures an area of showers and thunderstorms will develop around dawn in Kentucky and Ohio and track east into West Virginia by mid-morning. You'll want to bring rain gear with you heading out the door even if it's not raining where you are right away.
Some small hail and briefly heavy rain is possible with this activity as it moves through.
Tuesday afternoon will trend drier as most of this activity moves out, with some breaks of sunshine pushing temperatures well into the 60s .
A few showers are likely to increase again Tuesday night but the main event will be a squall line of rain/thunder moving across Ohio and Kentucky late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. This should push across our area mid-late morning Wednesday.
The early arrival limits the potential for severe wind or hail but 35-45 mph gusts are possible as that line of rain moves through. A quick half to one inch of rain may also cause some localized street flooding.
Scattered outages, along with spotty flooding, are the impacts we'll see Wednesday although widespread significant effects appear unlikely for us.
However, Wednesday will be a day to bring the jacket along with you even though temperatures will be in the 50s and 60s heading off to work and school. Behind the front, we'll drop quickly into the 40s and 30s by sundown and the mountains can see a dusting of snow as the precipitation exits.
While the gusty winds and some afternoon sun will help dry out many roads, any leftover moisture can freeze Wednesday night so be careful.
The last day of February will be seasonably chilly but sunny before clouds increase Friday as a weak system passes to our south. This will bring a few rain showers by afternoon. We'll keep a close eye on those for the Marshall baseball game and the debut of the new stadium.
The weather for the first weekend of March looks great as temperatures warm again and we enjoy sunshine. 60 degree high temperatures Saturday will be bested by 70+degree readings Sunday and Monday of next week.