Strong, damaging winds possible through this afternoon

A strong low pressure system moving northeast through East Tennessee and southwest North Carolina and Virginia could produce damaging winds through this afternoon along the foothills and eastern mountains, and some snowfall is possible in the region, forecasters said.

The system could produce strong southerly winds between 25 and 40 mph, and gusts over 70 mph are possible, the National Weather Service in Morristown said.

“As a cold front moves through the region today, cold air will rush in behind it, changing the rain to snow late this afternoon, with some snow showers persisting across the area tonight,” an NWS hazardous weather outlook said. “Light snowfall is possible, especially across the higher elevations of southwest Virginia and far East Tennessee mountains Wednesday night into Thursday.”

Counties affected by the hazardous weather outlook, which was issued this morning, include Anderson, Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Uniom.

Forecasters said another low pressure system is forecast to affect the area from Friday night to Saturday night. Most of the precipitation is expected to be rain, but there is “still quite a bit of uncertainty about the exact track of this system and some snow may be possible, especially over northern areas,” the NWS said.