Winter returns to Rock Hill, with snow chances Sunday
Weeks of springlike weather will come to an end this weekend amid falling temperatures and an increasing likelihood of some snowfall, forecasters said Friday.
Meteorologists say they don’t expect much, if any, of the snow to accumulate in the Rock Hill area, but state transportation officials said they are prepared to spread a brine compound on major highways to prevent any ice formation.
The cold front’s arrival Friday afternoon was preceded before daybreak by a line of noisy thunderstorms. Temperatures rose into the lower 70s Friday, but forecasters said they expect afternoon highs only in the 40s and 50s for the next week.
Lows in the low and mid 20s are possible Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
That could pose a threat to peach and other crops that are far ahead of normal development, due to unseasonably warm weather the last six weeks.
The big question surrounds the chance of snowfall Sunday morning.
“Confidence is increasing in the winter storm potential for Saturday night and Sunday,” National Weather Service meteorologist Trisha Palmer said.
A low-pressure system is forecast to move from the lower Mississippi Valley across South Carolina later Saturday and Sunday. Precipitation, in the form of rain, is predicted to arrive early Sunday morning, and it probably will mix with or even change to snow around daybreak Sunday, Palmer said.
As is often the case with winter storm systems in the Southeast, the Weather Service’s computer models are sending mixed signals about accumulations.
Palmer said much of the guidance shows little or no accumulation from Charlotte’s southern suburbs southward across the Rock Hill area.
But a few of the computer models indicate an inch or two could accumulate. That would be mostly on grassy surfaces, forecasters say, noting that weeks of above-average temperatures have left the ground warmer than usual for mid-March.
More significant accumulations are forecast in North Carolina, with 6 inches or more possible in some N.C. mountain locations.
Precipitation is expected to end by late Sunday morning, but Palmer said it will remain cloudy and cold, with high temperatures only in the lower 40s.
Highs in the 40s also are forecast Monday and Wednesday, and the National Weather Service’s Doug Outlaw said the Rock Hill area and the rest of the Carolinas will remain “in the deep freeze during midweek.”
“Overall,” Outlaw adds, “a cold week.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Winter returns to Rock Hill, with snow chances Sunday."