Hopefully Some Good News…For Early in the Morning At Least

Hopefully I have a little good news for us, at least for in the morning across Central Alabama.

Temperatures are not falling across the area and and evaporational cooling will not help them fall any further except across the far northern part of the area up around Hamilton, Haleyville and into Huntsville. The temperature at Haleyville is 34F and 33F at Cullman Airport near Vinemont.

Readings will drop to freezing near and north of US-278 tonight, setting the stage for the precipitation that is moving into the area to be a mix freezing rain, mixed with sleet and snow. This will impact areas from norther Marion, across northern Winston and Cullman Counties, northward through the Tennessee Valley and over into Northeast Alabama. There could be light accumulations, up to a third of an inch of snow and some light accumulations of freezing rain or sleet. There could be scattered icing problems in areas where colder temperatures and precipitation combine to produce heavier amounts.

South of this area, a mix will fall overnight, consisting of rain, sleet, some freezing rain and even some snowflakes. Right now there is a lot of sleet mixed in The further north you are, the more wintry the mix will be. Accumulations will be very light. By sunrise, temperatures in the I-20 corridor will generally be just above freezing, between 32-35F. Some bridges and overpasses could ice early in the morning in the Birmingham, Anniston and Gadsden areas.

During the morning, the precipitation will change to all snow over the Tennessee Valley. By late afternoon, it will spread southwestward to the US-78/280 corridor, meaning it will be snow at Hamilton, Jasper, Cullman, Gadsden, Annsiton and Alex City. Light to moderate snow will fall through the evening hours, gradually pushing eastward into Georgia after midnight.

Snowfall accumulations could approach 4-6 inches over Northeast Alabama around Centre, Fort Payne and Gadsden.

In the US-78/280 corridor, including Hamitlon, Jasper, Birmingham, Childersburg: 1-3 inches of snow will accumulate by late Wednesday night.

Amounts southwest of there will taper quickly down to zero. Areas south of a line from Millport to Lake View to Jemison to south of Alex City and Opelika will see little if any snow accumulation.

The Winter Storm Warning and Winter Weather Advisory remain unchanged.

BOTTOM LINE
…Best chances for accumulations and travel problems overnight will be along and north of US-278.
…In the I-20 Corridor, a mix will fall (sleet, rain, some snow and a little freezing rain). The better chances of a little bridge or overpass icing will be between Birmingham and Anniston.
…If you must head out early tomorrow, it is imperative that you check the latest conditions.
…Snow will overspread the area during the afternoon. Pay close attention to the evolving situation and avoid being on the roads once the snow starts accumulating.

Having said all of that, it is very the very closest of calls.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Winter Weather