An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…
Thanks to all of you who have been reading along with us and making comments today; we have shattered our daily record for page views and unique visitors during the last 24 hours, needless to say! We hope many of you join us on a regular basis; we are here every day through the year with these discussions and videos, along with a variety of really cool weather posts by our distinguished team of bloggers (those folks up on the top of the screen… you can click on their picture for a bio and additional information). Enough for the commercial… now to business at hand….
WINTER STORM AHEAD: We have the new 18Z NAM in the house, and considering the 12Z runs of the NAM and the GFS, it sure looks like a very significant snow event is ahead for Central Alabama late tonight and tomorrow. A heavy snow warning will be issued a little later this afternoon by the Birmingham NWS office for parts of our “sweet spot”.
The upper trough moving through Mexico is helping to spin up a surface low in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico, right on time and right on target. If anything, the precipitation shield ahead of the system is a little ahead of schedule (echoes are already over Mississippi on the Jackson radar). The moisture plume associated with the storm is impressive, as is the cold air to the north. A great combination for snow across the Deep South.
WHERE IS THAT SWEET SPOT? With any Gulf storm like this, there is usually a 30 to 50 mile wide band of heavier snow. I still like the idea of that band in the general area from Livingston to Clanton to Roanoke. This area could see 3 to 6 inches of snow. Based on the liquid totals coming from the models, I believe somebody in that region might get more, especially east of I-65. Some of the counties that should get the heaviest snow include Coosa, Clay, Randolph, Tallapoosa, and Cleburne.
To the north and south that heavier snow axis, we expect 1 to 3 inches for Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Anniston. And, 1 to 3 inches for Montgomery and Auburn. You can see the map below this post.
I still believe there won’t be much snow for the Tennessee Valley, including Huntsville. They could see a dusting. Best chance of snow accumulation up that way will be over Jackson and DeKalb Counties.
TIMING: The precipitation will move into West Alabama between 9:00 p.m. and midnight tonight, with the precipitation becoming widespread by daybreak tomorrow. The snow will continue through the morning, then ending from west to east during the afternoon.
TRAVEL: Initially, roads will be just wet late tonight. But, as the snow gets heavier tomorrow morning icy travel problems will develop, and by mid to late morning travel could be difficult over most all of Central Alabama (U.S. 278 on the north end, U.S. 80 on the south end). And, tomorrow night, we drop into the teens, so ice problems will continue on roads and bridges through early Sunday morning. Travel will improve greatly by mid-morning under a sunny sky and warming temperatures.
POWER OUTAGES: I really don’t expect many of them. No freezing rain with this event; it will be all snow. That, that rarely causes major outages.
LIVE SPECIAL TONIGHT AT 7:00: Once again, we will live on the Internet tonight at 7:00 with a special on the upcoming winter storm. I will be taking e-mail questions, so be sure and watch if you have time. Just click on the “watch live 24/7” button on the main ABC 33/40 weather page.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left.
Needless to say, we will have frequent updates here on the blog through this event, so stay tuned. And, if you have pictures for us, the e-mail address is [email protected]!
