Bluefield, West Virginia 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

108
FXUS61 KRNK 261839
AFDRNK

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
239 PM EDT Thu Mar 26 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...

Aviation updated.

A cold front will bring widespread rain Friday and Friday
night, with a little snow possibly mixing in for the mountains
early Saturday morning. Expect cooler weather for the weekend,
followed by another warming trend next week.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
1) Rain likely on Friday and Friday night. Expect cooler
weather for the weekend, followed by another warming trend next
week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGE 1: Rain likely on Friday followed by cooler weather
and then another warming trend.

In the upper levels, a large ridge remains in place over the
southern CONUS through Saturday. Several disturbances were
moving through the main jet stream aloft, with weak troughing
over much of the eastern CONUS through Saturday. One of these
disturbances was helping to bring cloud cover and some light
showers to the Greenbrier Valley today, but most of this will
disappear this afternoon. A more substantial chance of rain
comes overnight tonight through Friday as the main frontal zone
shifts south into the area. Right now, it looks like most of the
region should see between a quarter inch to a half inch of
rain. Parts of NC and SW VA could see some dry air intrusion in
the mid levels, and this would cut down rainfall amounts there.
A westerly surface wind during much of the rain event along with
plenty of cloud cover will keep instability low; we may see a
little thunder over the NC Piedmont, but nothing severe is
expected. On the backside of the system, we could see some snow
flurries mixing in over the higher terrain early Saturday
morning.

Behind the front, gusty NW winds are expected, especially
Friday night into early Saturday. Higher elevations and
ridgetops may have wind gusts up to 45 mph. Lower elevation wind
gusts along and west of the Blue Ridge may have gusts of 15-30
mph. Minimum RH values dropping into the teens and 20s along
with gusty winds are expected over the weekend, especially over
the Piedmont. Depending on temperatures and how much rain we get
over the next 30 hours, we could have some fire weather
concerns. Hopefully we get enough rain areawide so this won`t be
an issue.

Saturday and Sunday night we will see freezing temperatures
areawide with a 1035 mb continental polar high centered
overhead. Both mornings look quite cold, with ideal radiational
cooling conditions and PWATs dropping below 0.15 inches.
Thankfully we begin a warming trend Sunday, becoming more
pronounced Monday through Thursday with ridging building in.
Expect well above-normal temperatures during that time.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
VFR conditions are expected to continue until tomorrow morning,
when we will begin to see MVFR ceilings develop in -RA as a cold
front sinks into the area from the north. This will occur
generally around 13Z for BLF, LWB, BCB, and ROA, and around 15Z
or after for LYH and DAN. Ceilings and visbys will gradually
lower to IFR by late morning into early afternoon with the
arrival of RA. Most of the rain arrives after 18Z however, with
conditions likely lowering to LIFR then for the mountains.

Gusty SSW today will diminish to 5 knots or less after 27/00Z.
More westerly winds will be in place tomorrow ahead of the
front, with speeds around 10-12 kts gusting to 18-25 kts through
27/18Z. LLWS looks to develop for the mountain terminals as the
LLJ increasing ahead of the system, mainly between 27/03Z to
27/12Z, at which point the surface winds will increase.


EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...

Rain and sub-VFR conditions shift south out of the area by late
Friday into early Saturday morning as high pressure builds in
for several days. Before it ends, we could see some snow
flurries mixing in at BLF and LWB early Saturday morning. The
next chance of rain and sub-VFR conditions will come Monday into
Tuesday, mainly affecting the mountains.

Very gusty NW winds arrive behind the front for Friday night
into Saturday morning, with gusts 15 to 25 kts possible at TAF
sites. Winds diminish Saturday night through midweek with high
pressure dominating.



&&

.FIRE WEATHER...

...Possible fire weather concerns Friday through Sunday...

Depending on how much rain we receive Friday and Friday night,
we may have an elevated fire weather period through the
weekend. It is possible we could see some fire issues in the
Piedmont ahead of the front tomorrow afternoon, as temperatures
warm into the 80s with a gusty west wind. That said, it looks
like minimum RH values should be above 35 percent ahead of the
front tomorrow, hopefully followed by rain.

Saturday looks like more of a concern, with NW winds gusting 20
to 30 mph (higher on ridges), and minimum RH values dropping
into the 15 to 25 percent range Saturday afternoon. Parts of the
VA and NC Piedmont are forecast to receive the least amount of
rainfall, and if this occurs fine fuels like dead grass and
leaves may be ripe for burning.

Winds will be SSW and lighter Sunday along with cooler
temperatures, however RH values will remain in the 10 to 25
percent range, so it has the potential to be an elevated fire
weather day as well.

&&

.RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
VA...None.
NC...None.
WV...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...SH
AVIATION...SH
FIRE WEATHER...SH