January 1, 2024
Headlines
Snow Flurries/Snow Showers Possible Friday w/ Light Accumulation Possible (1″ or less)
Wintry Precip Likely Sunday-Monday With Potential Impacts to Travel
Friday
Friday continues to look like a day to monitor for snow flurries and snow showers, with light accumulation not out of the question. I still think the threat is a low-end threat but certainly not zero. I’ll keep you posted!
Sunday – Monday
There are a few to things to take note of in this update…
First, I can no longer guarantee that Sunday morning will be alright. In fact, if any precip moves in that morning, it will be in the form of a wintry mix. The timing of this system is important to know how high our impacts will be.
I continue to believe that the majority of the precip with this system will fall as a cold rain. I have never forecast this to be a major ice or snow storm and I continue that messaging. HOWEVER, impacts to travel could be high, as it doesn’t take much snow/ice at all to make big impacts to travel.
As the system moves out, cold air moves back in and changes rain to snow. Light accumulations are likely with that switchover (1-2 inches).
Stay tuned for updates! Tonight and tomorrow’s data should bring more clarity. Up until now, our system has been over the Pacific, where data is sparse. That sparse data causes models (and us meteorologists!) to struggle with forecasting. As we get three and two days out from the event, things should get clearer.
I wanted to debut the graphic below that I’ve used before with wintry weather events. You can see the threat, the timeframe of the threat, and the main impact I’m expecting. This graphic will likely change over the next 48 hours, so stay tuned! Again, if the system comes in earlier on Sunday, impacts to travel on Sunday will be higher.
I continue to share my artistically challenged graphic (ha!). I’ve believed this graphic to be true for several days now.
Monitoring Threats Beyond the 5-Day
I’m not the only one eyeing January 9-10! The Climate Prediction Center is now eyein that timeframe, as well. My confidence continues to increase that we’ll see snow with that event. How much? Stay tuned. It looks like an event that could impact much of the Deep South. This could be a situation where the heavier snow is to our south, but MUCH can and will change with this part of the forecast. We will have arctic air in place and a Gulf low will be doing its thing….we all know these are the types of systems to watch the closest!
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