Early Afternoon Update

We continue to watch radar trends to our west. A quick hitting winter weather system is moving across the Southeast and has dropped some snow and wintry mix across Central Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. The National Weather Service in Jackson did issue a Winter Weather Advisory for some counties, but the precip has already moved east of those areas.

The ever important temperature forecast. All locations along and south of Interstate 20 have warmed above the freezing mark. The freezing line is running east to west along the U.S. 278 corridor from Gadsden to Cullman to Haleyville. We are not expecting any issues with the roads across much of Central Alabama as temps are above freezing. Some peace of mind for you, ALDOT has treated many of the bridges in the Birmingham area already today as a precaution.

Now a look at the radar. The atmosphere over the state remains very dry and a lot of the precip that is showing up on radar is not reaching the surface. The dry air above the surface is causing the moisture to evaporate. It continues to appear that the heaviest band of precip will be in Central Alabama between Interstate 20 and Interstate 85. Very light snow is now working into some of our western counties including Pickens and Sumter. We may see the Weather Service issue a Winter Weather Advisory this afternoon.

Looking to our west, media, spotters, and reports on social media continue to confirm the forecast. In some areas there are light to moderate snow showers, with most of it melting on contact. Other areas are only receiving a rain/sleet mix. We will all see some form of precip today, but for the most part it appears it will be wintry mix of snow and sleet, with some rain that will cross the state this afternoon.

If you see snow or sleet today, there is no need to panic. This system is nothing like last week’s and it moving very fast. The precip will only last a short time before dissipating.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Winter Weather