Snow, blowing snow, road icing

Isn’t this great?

Snow will slowly taper off in the BHM metro area over next 2 hours, from north to south. The upper-level low is now centered near Columbus, GA, and the upper-level forcing is moving south and east. This means places like Montgomery, Prattville, Auburn, and Troy will likely see additional accumulating snow this afternoon.

2.5″ in Trussville. When you measure snow, be sure to do so on a firm, preferably elevated surface (outdoor table, car roof, fence, etc.). If you measure in a grassy area, the snow sits up on the grass and gives you a falsely high reading. When this melts into the rain gauge, we’ll know the water equivalent and the snow/water ratio (usually 8:1 or so).

It will be very windy this afternoon, and we’ve already seen blowing snow here at times (even a vortex, or miniature tornado-like thing, in the front yard). Wind chills will be in thr teens, so bundle up the kids! Also watch for ice on sidewalks, driveways, patios, and decks…ER’s fill up with broken arms during snow and ice events.

The sun will probably come out for a while this afternoon in BHM, melting some of the snow. However, with lows tonight in the lower 20s, roads will be very dangerous through tomorrow morning, especially in shady areas and higher elevations that received more snow, and on bridges. So, it might be a good idea to go ahead and delay morning travel plans (work, school) until after 10 am or so if possible.

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