Cold Air and Snow Dusts Southern States
Friday - Saturday Snow Forecast, Image: NOAA
- Friday – Saturday Snow Forecast, Image: NOAA
Dallas TV forecasters are reporting freezing conditions overnight after a snow storm left more than an inch of the white stuff on the ground in the Big-D.
The computer model image above shows where precipitation may fall Friday night into Saturday morning. I drew in the “snow line”, snow is forecast to fall in areas above the line. In this model, it is not forecast to snow as far south as New Orleans. However, these models update every few hours, and temperature changes in the storm itself Friday night may cause snow to fall and possibly accumulate. Watch the previous TV link for the latest forecast in Southeast Louisiana.
Snow is forecast across the Southern States in the next several days as a Gulf low develops. It’s very difficult to forecast snow, for several reasons. You need freezing temperatures in all levels of the atmosphere for snow to occur. (It can be above freezing at the surface, but the snow may not stick.) You also need ample moisture in all levels of the atmosphere. And, third, you need a lifting mechanism, in the form of low pressure, for air to rise and continually cool.
In New Orleans, where snowfall rarely sticks, there’s a slight chance for a rare early snow event. If it did snow in New Orleans, it would beat last years record event, which was the earliest snowfall in the city’s recorded history. Click here for the latest TV forecast in New Orleans.
Currently, winter storm watches are in effect North and West of Southeast Lousiana, where 1-3 inches of snow accummulations are expected, beginning late Friday evening.
This storm system will then track through the Mid-Atlantic region and then out to sea.
-Dawn Brown
Gulf Storm Advances to Carolinas
Precipitation Forecast, Image: NOAA
A low pressure system that dumped heavy rain in Texas and Louisiana is now advancing to the Mid-Atlantic region. Parts of Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas can expect heavy rain before the low tracks off the coast of the United States. Rain / higher elevation snow storms continue to roll into the Pacific Northwest. Coastal areas of Washington and Oregon continue to see rain and high winds, whereas the Cascades continue to pile up snow.
Sky Cover, Image: NOAA
This map shows the National Weather Service’s forecast for the percentage of sky cover across the United States. You can see the Southwest, Big Mountain West and portions of the Mid-West and New England are sunny today.
The Thanksgiving forecast still looks pretty rough for the Mid-West and Great Lakes region. Check out your local TV forecast for the latest on the midweek storms. You can get those forecasts by clicking on the GET YOUR LOCAL TV FORECAST! link on the bottom right hand side of this website.
-Dawn Brown