1/28/09 Snow Chances...Just Not Today.

Well yet again, most of the area escaped the snow as it stayed to the north and west. I do feel for those dealing with all the ice from the Ohio Valley to the Great Plains. Nothing is worse during winter than an Ice Storm. As cold air filters in, think of the thousands who don’t have power. 

I have been in two terrible ice storms in N. MS in the early 90s that knock power out for us. One time in 94, we were out of power for 3 weeks. I remember loosing our well water and water heater. Those were some awful showers! CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PHOTOS on the ice and recovery below: 

Just click on the news source.  

CBS 

CNN

AP 

While we did receive just a bit of sleet along the plateau, for most, it was all rain and wind. Wind gust at times in the mountains reached 40mph!  The next couple of days will be cold, but seasonable. Another shot of cold air will move into the area Friday with a few flurries possible. The main concern now is Monday and Monday evening. The “classic snow storm setup” is POSSIBLE. I stress the word possible because we are several days away.  

Over the last several forecast model runs, the GFS model has been suggesting that a low will develop in the western Gulf and track northeast. At the same time, cold air will be in place or pulled down leading to a band of heavy snow. The models have flirted with the idea that the snow will occur in north and central AL and into TN. Below are a couple of the models we're looking at. The first is around noon on Monday. Green being the precip and the solid blue line, the freezing line. Anything north of the line could be snow. Red dot...us.

Here is noon on Monday:

And Monday evening:

Looks like the event would end Tuesday with a BLAST of cold air and wind as the low moves to the Mid Atlantic and New England. Once there, the storm with “bottom out” and could create a Nor’easter. Know by many as a winter hurricane!  

Now this is several days away, so I don’t want to get hopes up for many, but this does bear watching. The latest models were a bit warmer for Monday so we’ll see. 

See you soon,

Brian