12:45 PM | ***Significant snow and ice across the southern states from Texas to the Carolinas...a light snow event for the Mid-Atlantic region***
Paul Dorian
In addition to the accumulating snow that is on the way for portions of the southern US, ice will become a major factor and it can accumulate as much as a half an inch or more in some areas. Unfortunately, this kind of ice buildup may result in power outages with the biggest area of concern extending from NE Texas to NW Louisiana/southern Arkansas to northern Mississippi. Map courtesy Canadian Met Centre, Pivotal Weather
Overview
This cold and active weather pattern will produce another storm system in the short-term and this one will have a major impact on the southern states from Texas to the Carolinas with significant snow and disruptive ice. Low pressure will organize over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico later today which is much farther to the south compared to the most recent storm system that originated over the central Plains. Cold air has penetrated all the way into the Deep South during the past couple of days setting the stage for this upcoming winter event.
This storm system will push to the northeast on Friday from the Deep South to the coastal waters of the southern Mid-Atlantic by mid-day on Saturday. The surface low will have little support in the upper atmosphere as a “positively-tilted” trough axis will be limited in its generation of upward motion. While snow is likely in the Mid-Atlantic region from late Friday night into early Saturday, it is likely to be an overall light event with accumulations probably limited to the range of a coating to a couple of inches.
Snow can accumulate as high as half a foot in some parts of the southern US over the next couple of days with a swath of snow expected to develop al the way from Texas to the western Carolinas. Map courtesy NOAA, tropicaltidbits.com
Significant snow and ice for the southern states…light snow event in the Mid-Atlantic
This cold weather pattern for the central and eastern US is likely to continue well into the month of January and an active southern branch of the jet stream will assure that it remains quite active as well with multiple storm threats. Indeed, a strong jet streak setting up over the southern states will help contribute to low pressure development later tomorrow over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. With cold air now well penetrated into the Deep South, this developing storm system will produce significant snow and ice over the next couple of days across the southern states from Texas to the Carolinas. In fact, the snow can accumulate as high as half a foot in some parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee causing widespread travel problems by Friday. In addition, ice can accumulate as much as half an inch or more in some places resulting in the risk of downed trees and power outages. The biggest concern for significant icing will come in the region from eastern Texas to southern Arkansas/northwest Louisiana to northern Mississippi.
While this storm system will have a major impact across portions of the southern US, it is likely to only result in a light snow event in the Mid-Atlantic region from late Friday night into early Saturday. The upper-level support is just there for significant intensification of the surface low until it pushes to a position off the east coast. Map courtesy NOAA, tropicaltidbits.com
While producing a major impact on the southern states, this low pressure system will trek in an east-northeast direction and likely reach the coastal waters of the southern Mid-Atlantic region by early Saturday. With little support aloft, this system will likely not undergo significant strengthening until it is located well off the eastern seaboard. (The upper-level trough of low pressure will have a “positive-tilt” to its axis and this is not conducive to the generation of significant upward motion and strengthening of the surface low). While snow is likely in the Mid-Atlantic region from late Friday night into early Saturday, it is probably going to be an overall light event with accumulations limited to a coating to a couple of inches. High pressure and more cold air will follow into the eastern states for the early part of next week as the colder-than-normal pattern continues across much of the nation.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
Arcfield
arcfieldweather.com
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