textproduct: Morristown

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 1233 PM EST Sat Jan 31 2026

- Snow tapering off in the TN Valley through the afternoon and evening, with upslope NW winds keeping light snow/flurries going overnight in the mountains.

- Extreme cold through the weekend, with wind chills near or below 0 at times tonight through Monday morning. Wind chills will reach 10 to 20 degrees below zero across the higher elevations.

- A slow warming trend will follow next week with precipitation chances returning by Wednesday.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1233 PM EST Sat Jan 31 2026

The ongoing snow event will transition from being synoptically driven to NW flow upslope forcing as the upper low tracks east, away from our area and across the Carolinas this evening. Eastern portions of the TN Valley may see additional light accumulations of 1 inch or less through the rest of the afternoon, but the main accumulations tonight will be in the higher elevations of East TN where a brisk N-NW wind will enhance snow showers through orographic lift. Mountain zones may see an additional 2-5 inches through the rest of the afternoon and tonight. Based on this expected additional accumulation, the expiration times of the WW Advisory and WS Warning will be kept unchanged - 00Z for the WW.Y, 06Z for the WS.W. PoP/Wx grids were changed from the NBM overnight to maintain some slight chance PoPs in the mountains and flurries in NE TN/SW VA until Sunday morning. Given the very cold temperatures aloft, we are likely to have some flurries around as long as there are clouds present.

Impacts to travel will continue through Sunday as very cold temperatures will persist. Low temps tonight will drop to the single digits in most of the TN Valley, and below 0 in the mountains. Add in a wind between 10-20 mph, and wind chills will be dangerously low in the mountains. No changes will be made to the Cold Weather Advisory and Extreme Cold Warning. Taking the snow cover into consideration, the forecast went with NBM 25th percentile for temperatures through Sunday. Any icy spots on roads will likely remain slick through Sunday, with improvement on Monday when we will see more full sun area-wide and temperatures in the 30s.

Late Tuesday and Wednesday, a short-wave/jet streak will move across the Ohio and Tennessee Valley, producing isentropic lift as boundary layer winds become southwesterly and enhance frontogenetic forcing. Precipitation will mainly be in the form of rain but may end as snow showers.

Another northern stream short-wave brings a chance of wintry precipitation for late in the week.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1233 PM EST Sat Jan 31 2026

Snow continues to bring LIFR conditions to TYS and TRI. The snow is expected to taper off in the next few hours, so a gradual improvement to MVFR, then VFR, conditions is expected through 00Z. Winds will continue to be gusty at CHA through the evening, with some decrease after midnight. Cigs will be borderline VFR/MVFR overnight, but will lean the forecast toward MVFR predominating, with a return to VFR late in this TAF period.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Chattanooga Airport, TN 13 35 18 46 / 0 0 0 0 Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport, TN 6 26 8 38 / 10 0 0 0 Oak Ridge, TN 9 29 12 39 / 0 0 0 0 Tri Cities Airport, TN 2 22 -1 32 / 20 0 0 0

MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NC...Winter Storm Warning until 7 PM EST this evening for Cherokee- Clay.

Cold Weather Advisory until 1 PM EST Sunday for Cherokee-Clay.

TN...Winter Storm Warning until 7 PM EST this evening for East Polk.

Cold Weather Advisory until 1 PM EST /noon CST/ Sunday for Anderson-Bledsoe-Bradley-Campbell-Claiborne-East Polk- Grainger-Hamblen-Hamilton-Hancock-Hawkins-Jefferson-Knox- Loudon-Marion-McMinn-Meigs-Morgan-North Sevier-Northwest Blount-Northwest Carter-Northwest Cocke-Northwest Greene- Northwest Monroe-Rhea-Roane-Scott TN-Sequatchie-Sullivan- Union-Washington TN-West Polk.

Winter Weather Advisory until 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ this evening for Anderson-Bledsoe-Bradley-Campbell-Hamilton-McMinn-Meigs- Morgan-Rhea-Roane-Scott TN-Sequatchie-West Polk.

Winter Storm Warning until 1 AM EST Sunday for Blount Smoky Mountains-Claiborne-Cocke Smoky Mountains-Grainger-Hamblen- Hancock-Hawkins-Jefferson-Johnson-Knox-Loudon-North Sevier- Northwest Blount-Northwest Carter-Northwest Cocke-Northwest Greene-Northwest Monroe-Sevier Smoky Mountains-Southeast Carter-Southeast Greene-Southeast Monroe-Sullivan-Unicoi- Union-Washington TN.

Extreme Cold Warning until 1 PM EST Sunday for Blount Smoky Mountains-Cocke Smoky Mountains-Johnson-Sevier Smoky Mountains-Southeast Carter-Southeast Greene-Southeast Monroe-Unicoi.

VA...Cold Weather Advisory until 1 PM EST Sunday for Lee-Russell- Scott VA-Washington VA-Wise.

Winter Storm Warning until 1 AM EST Sunday for Lee-Russell-Scott VA-Washington VA-Wise.