Region sees official Winter Storm Watch issued from NWS

The National Weather Service has issued an official winter storm watch for the region from Friday through Saturday. National Weather Service of Morristown Meteorologist Kyle Snowdin said while Johnson City's forecast for the amount of snow remains between four and six inches, the wintry fronts coming into the region made cause for the winter storm watch. "That's just kinda just to start getting the word out there and make sure that everybody's continuing to see that we are monitoring the system ahead," Snowdin said. "It has good potential to have at least moderate winter weather impacts with it." Snowdin said the biggest changes the weather service is monitoring is if the storm will continue to move farther north or south. Depending on which way it goes, the type of precipitation could change, along with the amounts seen. "If you start to see the system moving a little bit farther north, that would kind of hinder some smaller snowfall totals but might introduce a little more freezing rain or sleet," he said. "Whereas, if the system goes a little bit farther south, we'd be more focused on snow and not so much freezing rain or sleet. So, that's kind of the big thing we'll be continuing to watch over a few days." Snowdin added Sunday is likely when the snowfall will occur, with ice also predicted to build up over the weekend. "We also do have some ice accumulation in there, around a quarter-inch, in the Johnson City area," Snowdin said. "It looks like maybe some initial ice with the onset of the event on Saturday. There might be a little period where the cold air prevails and we have more of that snow that comes through or a mix of freezing [precipitation] and snow through Saturday night into Sunday, and then some light wind-rain or freezing rain into Sunday evening." Temperature predictions have also remained relatively the same, with Saturday expecting to see higher temperatures to be in the 20s up to freezing. Sunday's forecast heading into Monday morning will also be chilly, remaining in the teens to potentially single-digits. Snowdin said Tuesday, however, is predicted as the coldest upcoming day. "It looks like the Tuesday morning time frame is our coldest morning – we actually have high temperatures that are nearing zero," he said. "They're not quite there yet, but they're in the low single-digits."