SO TRUE: In this morning’s discussion, I mentioned this forecast was “fraught with danger”… meaning there were plenty of things to go wrong… and to expect surprises.
No human or computer model expected the snow/sleet/freezing rain mess to be so intense and so early. Just wrapped up long form coverage on ABC 33/40… sad to report at least one person has died on the icy bridges this afternoon… that was in St. Clair County near Pell City on U.S. 231.
Here are a few forecast notes as we go forward…
*Temperatures will rise very slowly tonight, but freezing rain will continue to impact the Birmingham/Gadsden/Anniston areas through midnight. There is a reasonable change (no guarantee) that the temperature will be above freezing in Birmingham, Gadsden, and Anniston by 3:00 a.m., and these three cities should expect just mostly a cold rain early tomorrow morning with temperatures in the 33-35 degree range.
*Snow will continue this evening along the U.S. 278 corridor, but that will slowly change to sleet and freezing rain later tonight.
*To the west, however, freezing rain will be possible through mid-morning in areas north and west of Birmingham… places like Jasper, Hamilton, Guin, Fayette, and Vernon. This is where up to 1/2 inch ice accumulation is possible, along with the chance of scattered power outages.
*All of Alabama will have just a cold rain tomorrow from mid-morning on through the rest of the day.
More later…
