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A Snowy Start To The Weekend

| December 4, 2009 @ 2:50 pm | 5 Replies

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TO THE WEST: Snow has been falling around the Houston area much of the day, with the band of heavier snow about to move into Southwest Louisiana. As you can see from Dr. Tim’s post below, there is very good confidence that we will have snow around here late tonight and tomorrow morning, but no serious accumulations are expected. Having said that…

HOW MUCH AND WHERE? The 12Z runs were more aggressive with moisture levels here, after a very dry look on the 00Z runs from last night. But, forget the models; we can look at the current setup to the west and carve out a fairly high confidence forecast. Be sure and watch the Weather Xtreme video for all of the graphics associated with this, but it looks like you can expect a dusting to one inch of snow by mid-morning tomorrow if you live near I-59… places like Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Gadsden. Little if any snow is expected over the northwest part of the state (west of a line from Vernon to Haleyville to Decatur and Athens). A light dusting is possible in the general area between Birmingham and Montgomery, and for East-Central Alabama. There is a chance the higher terrain locations across Jackson and DeKalb counties up in Northeast Alabama could see two inches in spots, mainly over 1,000 feet in elevation.

The NWS offices in Huntsville and Birmingham have issued a winter weather advisory for this general area for the potential for light accumulating snow.

The RPM is suggesting the heaviest snow accumulation in the state could be down over Southwest Alabama’s Washington and Choctaw counties… places like Butler and Chatom.

The light accumulation will be on grassy areas only, and it will go away pretty quickly tomorrow afternoon as sunshine returns.

WHEN? The main window for the light snow will be around around 10:00 tonight through 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.

DRIVING PROBLEMS? Nothing serious. But, think about how many wrecks we have around here when it rains. Just be aware there could be a few icy spots on bridges; most roads will be only wet and travel should not be a problem. Be careful out there anyway.

REST OF THE WEEKEND: The sky becomes sunny tomorrow afternoon as the snow moves out, but the air stays cold with a high only in the low to mid 40s. Sunday will be sunny but with a cold morning. We begin the day Sunday in the mid 20s, then rising into the low 50s by afternoon.

NEXT WEEK: Some rain is possible at times on Monday and Tuesday, but the heaviest rain should come Tuesday night, when a few thunderstorms could be involved as well. To the north, this system will bring a big snow in the broad zone from Denver to Chicago. Colder and drier air moves into Alabama following that system during the latter half of the week.

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.

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

James Spann Jason Simpson Ashley Brand
J. B. Elliott Bill Murray Brian Peters
Dr. Tim Coleman WeatherBrains Podcast E-Warn (AL wx watches/warnings)

We will keep the blog updated with fresh information as the snow approaches late tonight and tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!

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About the Author ()

James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.

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