EVENING: Increasing clouds, temps in the 30s.

TONIGHT: Cloudy, low 27.

THURSDAY: Light snow or wintry mix begins 7-10 AM, then a steady, cold rain into the afternoon. Hi 45.

FRIDAY: Morning rain and snow showers. Becoming very windy and much colder. Temperatures dropping quickly into the 20s and teens. Winds 20-25mph, gusting between 40-60mph.

Wednesday was very quiet and pleasant. We may not see this kind of weather until the middle of next week. We now focus on the upcoming mix/rain for Thursday followed by a very powerful arctic front that arrives Friday.

Our weather team expects a wintry mix to develop between 7am and 10am Thursday morning. Some areas north of I-81 could even see a slushy accumulation of snow during the morning hours. By noon, most areas will have noticed the changeover from a wintry mix to rain. Steady rain continues Friday afternoon and Friday evening with rain amounts near one inch.

As the arctic air approaches Friday morning, a few rain/snow showers develop around daybreak Friday. What follows will be a dramatic drop in temperatures and strong winds. Westerly winds of 20-25mph gusting to 40 to 60mph will occur mid-morning Friday. At the same time, our temperatures will see a 25 degree drop within several hours. Check out the images below:

Anyone traveling secondary roads should watch for areas of black ice as temperatures drop below freezing on Friday. Strong wind gusts will also cause some challenging travel on the interstates.

The weekend remains very cold and windy, leading to one of our coldest Christmas days in years!

-Meteorologist Eric Finkenbinder