8:30 pm Update…and final update for the night

I just wanted to take a moment and thank you all for bearing with me through this winter weather event. We should be thankful that snowfall totals stayed manageable. This snow is so wet and heavy that it could have been very destructive to trees and powerlines. We don’t want that. It’s bad enough that roads are a mess.

Instead, many of us ended up with a “pretty” snow that is very manageable. I have 3″ here at the house, with flurries continuing to pepper down. Those flurries will be with us for the next few hours.

In hindsight, I wish I had left my 4-6 inch prediction alone and not upped it to 6-8″, though those of you around the northern half of Fentress County received that much and I forecast for both Fentress and Cumberland counties. Many of us in Cumberland County have 2-4 inch amounts, according to social media posts I’m seeing. I’m just glad I never went higher than 6-8″, though it was tempting a couple of times.

Keep in mind we have more snow showers coming tomorrow, with up to an inch of additional accumulation.

Considering the MANY complexities of this system, I think things worked out rather well. It certainly could have gone many other directions!

The number one issue with communication was so many different forecasts from so many different people. That was a big problem for me, the NWS, and all broadcast outlets. At times, I was even called out by people for a forecast that wasn’t even mine! LOL I’ll take the heat for my own busted forecasted but I’ll be dadberned if I take the heat for someone else’s. LOL

I’ve never seen so much confusion on social media with so much weather information floating around. It was wild. The two craziest forecasts was one that called for widespread 13-inch snow amounts and another that called for an ice storm. That was tough stuff to battle.

The number one issue with forecasting was timing. Lord have mercy, the timing was a nightmare to figure out! Actually, I never did figure that out…nature just finally showed me. lol Even the most patient snowbird’s patience was tried to the max… mine included! Live and learn. Being off on the timing for when the wintry mix would stay snow cost us several inches of snow. I always try to learn from what goes right and work to improve for the next one.

And speaking of the next one……

Let’s not even talk about what models are showing for the rest of this month. I think I counted five more opportunities for snow. Lord, help us. lol Thankfully, the models will likely be wrong about at least half those, right? lol

I love doing this, I really do. I love analyzing what the atmosphere is capable of doing and then conveying that to you. Then, it’s always so interesting to see what the atmosphere actually does with all that potential. I can tell you what the atmosphere is capable of doing, but I can’t tell you what it’s absolutely going to do.

Meteorology keeps ya humble.

You all take care and have a good night. Be careful if you must venture out tomorrow.

If you’re interested, I made a YouTube video earlier. If you missed it on YouTube I’ll include it below.

Thank you!

Again, be safe if you venture out.