The warm weather over the holidays will give way to heavy rain on Thursday that will put much of our area under a flood watch.

Two to four inches of rain may cause flooding on creeks and streams through much of the area.

The flood watch will affect most areas except for the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, extreme East Tennessee and North Georgia.

The National Weather Service in Morristown, Tennessee, reported that the strong storm system’s rain, coupled with previous precipitation, is likely to “cause ponding on area roadways,” and “small rivers and streams could overflow their banks.”

High winds will be possible in the mountains and foothills of East Tennessee, the National Weather Service added.

The high temperature on Thursday will be near 50 degrees with the low in the upper 30s. Friday’s high is expected to be near 60.

Saturday will start warm with temperatures dropping throughout the day. Rain on Saturday could change over to light snow in higher elevations with little accumulation expected.

More rain will move in for Tuesday and it could become mixed with flurries in the higher elevations.