Potential Significant Winter Storm this Weekend - Very Cold Weather Follows Early Next Week

A significant winter storm will likely impact our area this weekend. The winter storm will be followed by very cold temperatures early next week. Read More >

Fire Weather Forecast Banner for Monroe County

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FNUS51 KRNK 221918
FWFRNK

Fire Weather Planning Forecast for SW VA...SE WV and NW NC
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
218 PM EST Thu Jan 22 2026

.DISCUSSION... 
...Winter Storm Watch Areawide For This Weekend...

For today, expecting a slight uptick in humidity compared to 
yesterday, but overall expecting another dry day with minimum Rh 
this afternoon back down close to 30 percent in some areas. Any 
clouds this morning should give way to an abundance of sunshine this 
afternoon along with westerly winds which will be gusty at 
times...especially over the ridge crests. Winds will subside at 
sunset. 

For Friday, clouds will increase throughout the area. Rh values will 
be a little lower than Thursday (today) due to lower dewpoints in 
spite of lower air temperatures. Minimum relative humidity (%) 
values will be between 25-35%.

The weekend is a show stopper for burning. Heavy wintry 
precipitation is forecast. There is potential for 1-2 inches of 
liquid equivalent precipitation...a drought buster. If it all falls 
as snow and or sleet it will significantly compact fine fuels. It is 
also not expected to melt very quickly with temperatures remaining 
below freezing for the remainder of the month.


&&

WVZ044-230915-
Monroe-
Including the city of Union
218 PM EST Thu Jan 22 2026

                      Tonight      Fri          Fri Night    Sat          

Cloud Cover           Mclear       Pcldy        Pcldy        Mcldy        
Precip Type           Frz Drzl     Frz Drzl     None         Snow         
Chance Precip (%)     0            0            0            70           
Chance of Thunder (%) 0            0            0            0            
Min/Max Temp          20           37           10           26           
Max/Min RH %          72           35           50           31           
Wind 20ft/early(mph)  W  3         W  3 G17     NW  5 G21    Lgt/Var      
Wind 20ft/late(mph)   Lgt/Var      NW  7 G21    NW  3        E  4         
Precip Amount         0.00         0.00         0.00         0.11         
Precip Duration                                              4            
Precip Begin                                                 7 AM         
Precip End                                                   Continuing   
Mixing Hgt(ft-agl)                 3540                      2700         
Transport Wnd (mph)                NW 17                     E  9         
Vent Rate (mph-ft)                 60180                     24300        
Dispersion            Very Poor                 Poor                      
Max ADI Early         6 Very Poor  26 Fair      12 Poor      14 Gen Poor  
Max ADI Late          5 Very Poor  59 Gen Good  9 Poor       24 Fair      
Max LVORI Early       3            3            2            2            
Max LVORI Late        3            2            2            2            

Remarks...None.

.FORECAST FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7...
.SUNDAY...Freezing rain, snow and sleet. Lows around 12. Highs in
the mid 20s. Minimum RH 86 percent. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. 
.MONDAY...Freezing rain, snow and sleet. Lows around 12. Highs
around 18. Minimum RH 62 percent. West winds 10 to 15 mph. 
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy. Lows around 2 below. Highs in the mid
20s. Minimum RH 50 percent. West winds 15 to 20 mph. 
.WEDNESDAY...Partly cloudy. A slight chance of snow. Lows around
8. Highs in the upper 20s. Minimum RH 57 percent. West winds
10 to 15 mph. 
.THURSDAY...Mostly cloudy. A chance of snow. Lows around 10.
Highs in the lower 20s. Minimum RH 60 percent. West winds 10 to
15 mph.

.OUTLOOK 8 TO 14 DAYS...
Temperatures below normal.  Precipitation below normal.

Radar