Will it be rain, sleet, or snow?

Not even the best weather forecasters can decide on what the latest winter storm will hold for the Roanoke-Chowan area.

Hopefully, whatever falls from the sky beginning Wednesday afternoon through Thursday will not duplicate the storm from the last week in January.

“This is one of those events that changes quite a bit every time we receive an update,” said Hertford County Emergency Management Director Chris Smith. “There remains some considerable uncertainty with this storm. I would recommend to all residents of our local area to stay updated as the forecast could drastically change by Tuesday.”

Ronnie Storey Jr. agrees.

“I’m not real comfortable with the forecast, there are too many variables for me to give you a definitive answer as to how this storm will impact our area,” said Storey, the Emergency Management Director for Northampton County.

“As it looks on Monday, the southern counties in the state and those along the I-85 corridor appear to be in the bulls eye; they have the best chance to see significant snowfall and even some freezing rain,” Storey added. “For us they’re calling for a wet snow, one to two inches, and then turn to rain, but all that could change. Whatever we get, I just hope it’s snow and rain, and not freezing rain.”

Up in Gates County, Emergency Management Director Billy Winn said the forecast calls for rain, sleet and snow, with no significant accumulation.

“The temps here will be good, in the mid to high 30’s so we shouldn’t have too much ice accumulation here; the major impact will be central and western North Carolina,” Winn noted.

Late Monday afternoon, the official forecast from the National Weather Service office in Wakefield, VA revealed that confidence continues to increase regarding an area of low pressure that will develop off the southeast coast Tuesday night through Wednesday. This system will bring the potential for a period of wintry precipitation across southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina on Wednesday. Accumulations of snow and sleet will be possible Wednesday morning and afternoon.

This storm will come on the heels of a partly sunny day on Tuesday where the high is forecasted in the mid 30’s.

Things pick-up on Wednesday where a 70 percent chance of snow is in the forecast before 1 p.m. followed by a period of sleet, changing to rain. The high on Wednesday is predicted at 37 degrees.

A cold rain is likely to fall Wednesday night into Thursday.

After the system moves away from the local area, expect the weather to become a bit more favorable on Friday where partly sunny skies and a high temperature of 51 degrees is in the forecast. The weekend also looks dry with highs in the low 50’s.