Winter Storm Warning Issued

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

SNOW AHEAD FOR ALABAMA: Sure looks like a good general 1-2 inch snow for much of North and Central Alabama late today and tonight. This won’t be a long lasting event, and the snow won’t be especially heavy for long, but overnight we have made some adjustments that should make the snow lovers south of I-20 happy after missing some of the big snow events last month. The NWS is in the process of issuing a winter storm warning as I write this… the offices in Huntsville and Birmingham are both putting out warnings that will cover basically the northern half of Alabama. Be sure and watch the Weather Xtreme video for all of the graphics that go along with this discussion.

THE DEAL: Model data within the last 6 hours has started to converge on the idea of a “sweet spot”… the best combination of dynamic lift, moisture, and depth of cold air for snow somewhere over Central Alabama, and we have adjusted the snow accumulation potential graphic a bit to accommodate this. Still, the general idea is the same…. most people can expect 1-2 inches of snow across North and Central Alabama, but the potential for accumulation is now farther south, all the way down to U.S. 80. If we see some 3 inch amounts, the best chance will come, most likely, in the broad area between I-20 and U.S. 80.

TIMING: Snow will enter Northwest Alabama this afternoon as early as 3:00, and could reach the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham area around 5:00-6:00. Some rain is possible over West-Central Alabama before the change to snow begins; the change should happen pretty quickly. Snow should reach the Anniston-Gadsden area by 7:00. The core of this event will be from 7:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m…. and then the snow will exit in a big hurry soon after midnight. Some flurries are possible through daybreak tomorrow, but the sky should become mostly sunny by mid-morning.

TRAVEL: The snow will begin with surface temperatures above freezing, and roads initially will be just wet. The main window for slick roads and bridges will be from about 9:00 p.m. through 9:00 a.m. However, up in the northwest corner of the state around Muscle Shoals, there could be slick spots as early as 6:00. Churches in Northwest Alabama will probably need to consider calling off their Wednesday night services, but for Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Anniston, and Gadsden, there is a reasonable chance that travel won’t become difficult until after 9:00. I would expect school delays tomorrow… but we should be above freezing by 9:00, and the roads should improve greatly by mid-morning. The sun tomorrow will make for rapid improvement through the midday hours.

NO ICE: The good news is that this system won’t bring any freezing rain, so we don’t expect any ice accumulation or power outages.

MAP: Again, you know the story… but this is the final snow projection on this system. Snow won’t follow those nice red lines… this is just a guideline for planning. And, as always, expect surprises…

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday morning will be cold. Where snow is still on the ground, expect a low in the upper teens, with low 20s elsewhere. But, the good news is that this three day stretch will feature a nice warming trend, with upper 40s on Friday, low 50s Saturday, and a high close to 60 Sunday.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: Looks like we will see a high in the 60-64 degree range just about every day next week… and we can sure celebrate that. We might see a few showers by Thursday, but it doesn’t look like a big event. And, still no sign of any serious Arctic invasions through the end of February. Understand there will be cold spells, and maybe a snow flake or two at some point down the line, but just maybe after this week the worst of the winter of 2010-11 is behind us.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

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.

We will have updates throughout the day… time now to get our head out of computer models and look out the window. Will be very interesting to watch this one unfold. I have weather programs planned today for Donald Elementary in Fairfield and Crestline Elementary in Mountain Brook… the next full discussion and Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30…

Tags: snow

Category: Alabama's Weather