Snow is a maybe, freezing temperatures are for sure this weekend and beyond in Knoxville
Knoxville could be hit with another snowfall this weekend, and very cold temperatures are coming.
The National Weather Service in Morristown cited an 80% chance of rain Jan. 18 and a 70% chance of rain turning into light snow that night. Plus there’s a 30% chance of snow the morning of Jan. 19.
“We’re looking at the rain changing over to light snow late Saturday night into early Sunday morning and probably continuing off and on until at least the early afternoon hours for the Knoxville area,” meteorologist Brandon Wasilewski told Knox News.
Some areas could see up to an inch of snow, especially in the mountains or in far northeast Tennessee. There is a possibility of black ice on the roadways Sunday night.
“If it does snow, it definitely could cause some travel impacts. I just advise people to drive slow, take extra time to get to where you’re going, and provide extra space between you and the cars in front of you,” Wasilewski said.
A polar vortex is to blame, and it’s going to bring really cold temperatures.
When a polar vortex arrives, it brings frigid winds from the north pole deep into the United States. The cold air can settled in for days.
A polar vortex with low temperatures in the single digits and teens usually only occurs once every two years or a few times every decade, Wasilewski said. It occurred in January 2024 as well.
When will the cold weather come back?
Saturday morning temperatures will be in the upper 30s with a cold rain, and will rise to about 50 degrees.
Then the cold comes back that night and into Sunday, when the rain could turn to snow.
Sunday night heading into the early Monday is when it gets frigid. Monday temperatures will barely reach into the 20s. It will remain very cold through mid-week.
What is a polar vortex?
A polar vortex is the counterclockwise flow of air that keeps cold air near the earth’s poles, and it strengthens in the winter. When it expands into the Northern Hemisphere, it send the icy air far south, according to the National Weather Service.
It is a regular phenomenon during the winter and is often seen as the cause of outbreaks of arctic air within the United States.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville weather: Snow and freezing temperatures are coming
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