Weather

Record high temperatures topping 80 for many in Southwest and Southside Virginia will stir spring fever, but chilly weekend rain renews the reality that even an underachieving winter isn’t finished yet.

Sunday snowfall was limited to a narrow strip. A historically snowless winter is on the table for many Southwest and Southside Virginia locations, but that table can still be shaken by mercurial March.

This isn’t the snowstorm you were looking for, or dreading, depending on your view of snow, but winter will make a play on Sunday that could bring some slushy, sleety accumulation to parts of our region.

An upper-level low and a brief window of cold air amid a mild pattern may bring weekend snow in parts of Southwest and Southside Virginia, but for anything significant or widespread, a lot has to come together with little margin for variation.

Arctic air is headed south for the weekend, but it will be short-lived. Chances for significant snow look slim for Southwest and Southside Virginia in the next few days with a milder pattern likely resuming afterward.

The persistent southeast U.S. ridge of the La Niña atmospheric pattern has swatted cold air masses and winter storm systems away since Christmas. There might be at least a temporary change as the rodent rises next week.

Enough colder air has returned for some sleet and freezing rain mainly in western Virginia on Sunday morning, with snow showers possible in the mountains on Monday.

It’s another unseasonably mild week with no hint of wintry weather in Southwest and Southside Virginia. But colder air arriving next week might set up a little differently than it has so far this season.

Upslope northwest flow over the mountains is expected to bring 1 to 3 inches of snow to the Southwest corner as a quick cold shot arrives for the weekend.

After a frigid Christmas weekend, we can’t really say winter hasn’t bothered showing up. But significant snowfall has been a no-show, so far. It’s still early, though, and a lot of different things can happen.