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
High Winds, Heavy Rain… Ahead of IDA
Gulf Coast Radar, Image: NOAA Image is Old!
Click on the following link for the latest radar image of Ida. Ida continues to plow toward the Gulf Coast, creating high winds, and dumping heavy rain on Panama City, Florida, Mobile, Alabama and coastal areas outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. TV forecasters in those areas can give you the latest watches and warnings, and current position of Tropical Storm Ida. It appears the worst of the heavy rain is out ahead of the storm.
Ida Track, Image: NOAA click to enlarge
-Dawn Brown
Stormy Monday Setup
US Infrared Satellite, Image: NOAA
It’s a stormy start to the workweek for the Gulf South. A line of heavy rain is soaking the Gulf States, and a broader area of heavy rain is falling across the Mid-Atlantic region. Catch the latest TV forecasts from Savannah, Georgia and New Orleans, LA The ugly weather will start to end from west to east later on today, the Carolinas could still experience some rain showers tomorrow. Meanwhile, a winter storm is still casting its spell on the wild West. Forecasters in Casper, Wyoming say things will get better later on this afternoon.
Tropical Storm Grace is headed to the northeast in the eastern Atlantic The National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories on Grace late last night. Grace is west of Europe. NHC forecasters believe it will begin to weaken later today and a non-tropical low will absorb Grace later tonight or tomorrow.
-Dawn Brown