UPDATE 5:30 PM A State of Preparedness has been issued for all 55 West Virginia counties.

The National Weather Service has issued High Wind Watches for most West Virginia Counties

(WOWK) – We saw a mild week so far, but StormTracker 13 Meteorologists are expecting big changes as we head into the weekend.

A powerful cold front will move through late in the day Friday causing very strong winds all day on Saturday. The way the system is shaping up we could see very similar conditions to last Saturday in the tristate region.

There will be the potential for thunderstorms Friday afternoon and evening, but the strongest storms will pass through around 3am on Saturday morning. All of the rain will clear out of the region before sunrise, but high winds will last all day.

Projected rain totals are hovering around half an inch with close to an inch possible over some of the higher elevations. StormTracker Meteorologists are predicting a good amount of rain in the region, but widespread flooding will not be a concern.

35+mph winds will be prevalent through Friday and Saturday with two bursts of even stronger winds. The first burst of extremely strong gusts will be from 1am-5am Saturday morning when the last line of storms passes through. Strongest gusts in this burst will have the potential to reach 50mph. The second burst of high winds will blast through Saturday afternoon. This second burst will be even stronger than the first with wind gusts potentially exceeding 55mph. Like last week winds will calm down for Sunday.

Stay weather aware by downloading the StromTracker 13 weather app by clicking on the link below!