To those of us hoping for a big snowfall this weekend, the National Weather Service has some bad news.

Most of what is expected to fall from the heavens this weekend will be sleet, and lots of it, perhaps as much as three inches.

In fact, National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Chiuppi used the word “unprecedented” to describe the amount of sleet that is expected to begin falling late Friday, Jan. 23, and continue all day Saturday. Any snow we get would likely fall Sunday, but it’s not expected to be more than 1-2 inches at best.

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“I know most people want to see snow, but really at this point it looks like it’s going to be sleet and the sleet is going to be especially impactful,” he said. “This amount of sleet is just kind of unprecedented. … I don’t think many of us have seen this much sleet all at once in our lives before, so it’s kind of a unique situation.”

The NWS has issued both a winter storm warning and a cold weather advisory, each beginning at 6 p.m. Friday and continueing through Sunday, with Chiuppi saying that the forecast could still change as Friday wears on. An extreme cold watch is also expected to begin at 6 p.m. Sunday, and it could be upgraded to a warning.

Luckily, Chiuppi said the chances for ice are also decreasing, which is a bit of good news as sleet is considered less dangerous than freezing rain or ice, and less impactful to trees and power lines.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water crews were out Friday, trimming trees and doing other work to try to stem any potential power outages.

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Still, the NWS warned that the sleet is still going to accumulate on roads and, when combined with the low temperatures, will freeze and create layers of ice.

And when combined with the nasty temperatures over the next few days, those roads, sidewalks and driveways may remain dangerous through next week. That’s because, in addition to what ever precipitation falls, Memphis is in for several days of extreme cold.

This weekend, the temperatures are only expected to reach about 21 degrees, with lows around 17.

It’s going to be even worse early Monday, when temperatures may fall as low as 4 degrees, just reaching 18 for a high that day, the NWS said.

Tuesday is expected to be a sunny day, but the temperatures will still be below freezing, meaning that any melt from the sun will likely refreeze overnight.

In fact, the only chance for Memphis to get above freezing over the next few days is Wednesday, the NWS said, and if that happens, the high will only reach 33 degrees. The temps will plummet again afterward to the 20s and teens after that, Chiuppi said.

Chiuppi said this cold spate could challenge the record of nine days in a row with temps below freezing, which Memphis set Feb. 11-19, 2021.

With those temperatures, Chiuppi warned, icy roads may be here for a while.

“We’re not really seeing a potential in the next seven days for temperatures climbing above freezing,” he said.

City officials held a press conference Friday morning to update citizens on official plans to address the storm, including the locations of warming centers for anyone caught in the cold.