Early Afternoon Notes…
With the winter weather situation unfolding pretty quickly… let’s answer some questions.
*Will travel become dangerous?
Bridges could be come icy at any time over the northern two-thirds of Alabama this afternoon. Montgomery is at 33, but most places are in the 30-32 degree range north of U.S. 80. Roads will be just wet, but the bridges could be a mess by this evening. Be very careful on your way home from work or school this afternoon, and you might consider a route that involves the least number of bridges or overpasses. I have heard of no traffic accidents at this point, but with the precipitation expanding to the west and moving this way, I would not be shocked to hear of icy bridges at any moment.
How long with the icy travel last?
The bottom line is that all of Alabama along and north of U.S. 80 can expect icy bridges through midnight. After midnight, temperatures could rise slowly, especially over Central and East Alabama where some of the warmer air aloft is pulled down to the surface. The greatest chance of icy bridges tomorrow morning will be across areas west and north of Birmingham. All of Alabama should be above freezing by mid to late morning tomorrow.
*Rain, sleet, freezing rain, or snow?
See Dr. Tim’s post below this one. Warm air about 3,000-5,000 feet off the surface will mean this will be a mostly sleet and freezing rain event, although there will be some snow flakes involved for the next few hours. The best chance of snow will be over the western half of the state, where the cold air is more entrenched. Sleet is the least issue (although we will see plenty of it); those are the little ice pellets that bounce off the roads. Freezing rain is the problem; that is liquid precipitation that falls when surface temperatures are below 32 degrees. And, most of the precipitation this evening will be freezing rain.
*How much ice will accumulate?
We are concerned about the potential for 1/2 inch ice accumulation over Northwest Alabama. This is enough ice to bring down some trees and power lines, so there could be some scattered power outages tonight where the freezing rain continues for a long duration. Ice accumulation to 1/4 inch are possible for Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, with lesser amounts to the east for Anniston and Gadsden.
*What about Saturday morning?
There is a chance the rain will change to light snow late tomorrow night and early Saturday as the precipitation event winds down, but for now we do not expect anything beyond a dusting. However, there could be some icy spots on bridges Saturday morning with temperatures at or below freezing.
Stay tuned for more…
Category: Winter Weather