MONDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE

Most of the Eyewitness News viewing area is now under a winter storm warning starting at 4 a.m. Tuesday and lasting through 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Snow looks to develop in the coalfields after about 3 a.m. and then move up to the Huntington and Charleston corridor between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.

Snow will fall through the morning into the afternoon but mix and change to rain in the southern counties, likely melting what snow has accumulated.

Further north and west, the air will be cold enough to remain as primarily snow and with snowfall rates of a half to 1 inch an hour possible, amounts will pile up. A general 3-to-6 inches north and west of Charleston is expected with the highest totals on hills and where some streaky heavier bands typically set up, especially in northeast Kentucky.

Charleston and south will be close to mixing or changing to rain later in the afternoon and even if that doesn't happen, slightly higher temperatures can result in some melting. Nonetheless, expect messy road conditions throughout the day.

Far southern areas will be the first to change to rain but could see more than an inch of rain. Combined with a saturated ground (heaviest rains Saturday fell across this area) high water is possible into Tuesday night, so a flood watch is in effect.

SUNDAY UPDATE:

A winter storm watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for most of our area starting late Monday night into Wednesday morning.

Another system tracking up from the south will bring another round of moisture to the area around dawn Tuesday. However, this time around there's enough cold air present, at least initially, for it to fall as wet snow.

This will not be the dry snow we dealt with much of January. Temperatures most of Tuesday will hover around freezing. In fact, temps may inch up enough for snow to mix and change to rain, especially down in the coalfields.

Even if we remain mostly snow road conditions will likely trend from slushy initially to mostly wet later in the afternoon.

The snow should reach the Charleston/Huntington corridor by 8 or 9 a.m., so it's a close call for morning commute impacts.

Snow will fall steadily the rest of the morning and into the afternoon but again, it may mix or even change to rain at some point.

There are still a lot of questions about the exact track of this system which can have significant impacts on the forecast.

A sharp cutoff to little to no snow will likely be somewhere in the vicinity of Route 50.

The heaviest precipitation will fall in the coalfields but in the lower elevations that will likely be half snow and half rain. However, any deviation north or south with the track could mean lesser precipitation but also colder temperatures.

Normally in these setups elevation is key. The higher elevations will be colder and hence see more snow.

Areas near and east of US 19 will see the highest totals and even change to freezing rain/sleet Tuesday night with some ice accumulation on top of the snow.

This difference in elevation can even play out on a more local level, with locations down in the valleys seeing temperatures slightly higher than on surrounding hills, resulting in a difference in snow over just a few miles.

Keep in mind this is a preliminary outlook and the forecast can definitely shift on this one, but as of now we're calling for a general one to four inches of snow in most locations.

It looks like valley spots, including downtown Charleston and Huntington would be closer to the two inches mark while the surrounding hills would be closer to four inches.

Even a short drive up Farnsworth Drive or Bridge Road can make a difference of a few inches of accumulation in this setup. However, it's likely snow will melt some or compact in during lighter periods of snow.

In the meantime, just watch for icy spots Sunday night into Monday morning as we fall below freezing with some leftover moisture on the ground. Monday itself looks quiet with sunshine before the storm arrives Tuesday morning.