Weekend Preview; Snow Sunday?

Trying to stay ahead of rumors floating around social media. Here are a few notes on the weekend weather system that will impact Alabama….

*We will not be able to be very specific about the weekend weather event until we get the mid-week system (the one that will impact us tomorrow and tomorrow night) out of here. In an active zonal pattern like this, we have to take the waves one at a time.

*The majority of the precipitation over the weekend should come in the form of rain across North-Central Alabama. Should be a good soaking Saturday and Saturday night for places like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, and Gadsden. Rain amounts of 1 to 2 inches are very possible.

*There are considerable timing differences in the two primary global models; the Euro (ECMWF) is faster, and the GFS (U.S.) is slower.

*Both models suggest there could be a change over to snow, or snow flurries, on the back side of the departing system Sunday or Sunday night as cold air sweeps into Alabama and thickness values drop.

*Generally speaking, light snow or flurries on the back side of a departing mid latitude cyclone rarely produce major problems, but some light accumulation is possible. With temperatures expected to be above freezing Sunday, major issues are not likely. We will not be in a pure Arctic airmass like January 28.

*The track of the surface low over the weekend will actually determine who gets snow, and how much falls. And, as stated above, it is simply too early to call. Below are accumlation model maps from the GFS and the ECMWF valid Sunday night.

Let’s get to Wednesday and we will have a much, much better look at this system. Stay tuned.

Tags: snow

Category: Alabama's Weather