Wednesday -- next (last?) chance for snow

Winter is certainly not ended in North Carolina's mountains, with up to 5 inches expected this weekend in some of the higher elevations.

But time is running out for snowfall in the Piedmont and foothills.

Our Charlotte weather history is loaded with cases when snow fell in the latter two-thirds of March, but a lot of the long-range forecasts indicate warming will arrive in the Carolinas later next week, perhaps bringing an end to the chance of a sustained outbreak of cold, like we're in right now.

So what's left on the horizon for snow-lovers?

A weak system will cross the region Saturday, and it's possible a few areas could see a brief snow shower, perhaps heavy enough to coat the ground for a while. But meteorologists say the impulse doesn't have the clout of a system that moved through the Charlotte area two weeks ago, leaving a 2-inch snowfall.

Instead, Saturday's precipitation more likely will be in the form of a cold rain, or perhaps a rain-snow mix.

Perhaps snow-lovers should look to Wednesday.

A strong upper-level low pressure system is expected to cross the eastern United States on Tuesday and Wednesday. As has been the case all winter, temperatures will be at the critical point -- on the edge between rain and snow.

And has also been the case, the computer models are waffling all over the place on the track of the system. Some predictions take the storm far to the north of the Charlotte region. Others are south. Still others have the storm dumping several inches of snow in the area.

The consensus seems to be that precipitation would begin as rain, then change to snow as the storm pushes away.

It probably will be Monday before we have a better idea about this, but I'll keep an eye on things this weekend and post updates.

After Wednesday's storm, it appears as if a warm-up will arrive. I saw a discussion from government meteorologists early Friday that described Wednesday's storm as probably the last chance for measurable snow at lower elevations this season.

We could be looking at upper 60s for high temperatures next weekend, according to some forecasts.