First of all, please be careful if you’re out and about the rest of the day. Many of us are seeing dense fog and temps below freezing. Be careful for ice that you can’t see (black ice), both on roadways and porch steps.
The weather map is lighting up with winter storm watches for the Monday system. All of West Tennessee and nearly the whole state of Kentucky are now under watches for that storm. Those watches will likely be upgraded to warnings as we go through the weekend.
Winter storm watches and warnings are done a little differently than severe thunderstorm or tornado watches and warnings. For winter storms (and hurricanes), a watch means adverse weather is expected to begin within the next 48 hours. A watch is upgraded to a warning when winter storm conditions are imminent. The criteria for a winter storm changes across the country. For instance, if Houston, Texas, gets an inch of snow they are having a winter storm. If Denver, Colorado, gets an inch of snow they laugh (ha). An ice storm is defined by getting a quarter of an inch of ice or more.
For tonight, look for drizzle and fog to continue. Periods of light freezing rain are possible after midnight. That wintry mix should continue into Saturday morning. My thought’s are unchanged from this morning’s blog concerning tonight and Saturday’s event. I continue to believe that the greatest impact from this system will be to travel.
I’ll have an in depth update on Monday’s system later this evening. I’m waiting on some new data and some discussions from area NWS offices. I like to get all their thoughts, too. I’ll let you know what I think is going to happen later, so stay tuned!
You all have a great evening and be safe if you’re out and about.
