Good Morning! History in the making today. There will be a Deep South Snowstorm from Texas to the Atlantic ocean all the way down to the Gulf Coast. There will be snow on the Beaches. Lake Charles, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Jacksonville. The northern extent will cover at least the I-85/US 80 – and northward for a couple of more counties. It only takes a little snow to cause significant travel problems. A Winter Storm Warning dominates most of the southern half of Alabama. A Winter Weather Advisory extends farther to the north. Snow will begin for most of us by mid to late morning. It will become heavier during the afternoon and into the evening, ending later tonight. The greatest threat of significant accumulating snow will be generally along and south of a Russell, Pike, Butler county line southward. But, even north of that line, there is the potential for small accumulation. Temperatures may reach the mid 30’s here in central Alabama today. Any melting on the roadway will lead to a re-freeze tonight, as overnight lows to about 16 Wednesday morning. So, the potential travel nightmare will likely still be a problem Wednesday morning, long after the snow has departed. Arctic cold will continue for the rest of the week. Warmer temperatures are on tap beginning this weekend. Here’s my brief video forecast discussion.
TODAY: WINTER STORM WARNING covers much of the southern half of Alabama, as far north as Lowndes, Montgomery, Macon and Lee counties. Chance of early morning flurries. Then periods of snow begin mid to late morning. The intensity of the snow will peak in the afternoon hours. High 33. Accumulating snow is expected, especially along and south of US 80/I-85. But, accumulation is likely to be heavier across the southern quarter of Alabama and all the way down to the coast. Snow should end by about 9PM if not early. Low Tuesday night 15.
Some of the heaviest projected snowfall will be most likely in extreme south Alabama.
A Winter Storm Warning now covers much of southern Alabama from about I-85/US 80 southward. Farther north is the Winter Weather Advisory.
Here’s the IMPACT map from NWS. The purple area is where Dangerous Travel conditions are most likely, generally along and south of US 80/I-85. Even where accumulation is very light, it doesn’t take much to cause a significant travel hazard. Even a quarter of an inch.
Here’s a couple of model snapshots. I’m using the NAM model here. Notice by late morning at 11:30 AM, the snow shield covers much of Alabama from Alex City and Coosa county southward. Notice that 4:00PM snapshot. Some darker color there showing the intensity of the snow is a little heavier.
NEXT FEW DAYS: Arctic cold continues through the rest of the week Look for late week warming. Middle 50’s return Saturday. Teens and 20’s at night. Daytime highs in the 30’s Wednesday and 40’s Thursday and Friday. Expect warming into the 50’s by the weekend.
Here’s the 10 Day Model Blend Temperature Trend. Two words: weekend warm-up.
Thanks for reading this special blog update.. I’ll be LIVE on the radio from 6 to 9 on NewsTalk WACV. There will be updates as needed throughout the day. There will be another Blog Update early tomorrow morning, In the 4 o’clock hour. Our Weather App will keep you on top of the action with instant Winter Weather Alerts.
–Rich