Coastal Storm to impact Hampton Roads and western VA Saturday Jan 7th to Sunday Jan 8th

 Forecast update for Coastal Storm this weekend

   Hello everyone!  Wanted to post an update on the incoming Coastal storm Saturday January 7th into Sunday January 8th.  While tonight January 3rd, the Hampton Roads area can expect some rain, it should be cleared out by the morning commute, but remain cold.

  The active El Nino pattern has taken full swing, and with that we've got Surface Lows continuing to develop over the Gulf, and make their way over to the East Coast.  Although the temperatures remain average for now, when this storm is projected to be in the area it will still be too warm for snow.  The Western side of the storm will remain cold and drop some snow over the mountains.  The largest impact this system will have is forecast to be in the New England area.

  Since the system is arriving late Saturday night, the middle-range models show it best and both European and GFS models are agreeing more with what the storm is going to do.  While there is still some uncertainty and the storm could shift, right now looks like Hampton Roads will have rain and possibly high winds on the back side of it.

  I was excited to learn that GIFs and animated images could be shared from the weather models, so I will include those below.  Notice how the orange/yellow temperature color gradient dominates over the coast at the same time the precipitation is in the area.  This shows it will be warm enough for rain.

  Snow lovers don't lose faith!  We've got a long winter ahead and the climate patterns are still favorable for snow and consistent average to below average temperatures.  We will just have to wait it out to see if the Hampton Roads area is broken of its 3 year long snow drought!

  Stay tuned for more updates as the system approaches, be on guard for local weather alerts this weekend!

  Thanks for reading.