Issued Saturday at 3:00 pm, January 17, 2026
Saturday Afternoon Weather Update
Good Saturday afternoon, everyone! As you all saw this morning, I forecast a risk for some snow flurries today and some of you all have seen a couple. That risk for snow flurries will continue into the night. As colder air moves in this evening, moisture from a southern storm system will move northeast. This will bring potential light snow to the Smokies and could even moisten up our atmosphere enough for us to get some more flurries here on the plateau. These are not expected to cause any issues for us.
Interestingly, parts of southern, yes…southern, Georgia are now under winter storm warnings for tomorrow! This is the system that I’ve tracked all week. If you’ll recall, this is the system that prompted the special weather update from me last Saturday night. Sure enough, a winter system is evolving, but it will be too far south to give us significant precip. Can you imagine how excited those kids are that will get the snow!?
This is actually the second year in a row for southern Georgia to get snow. It may even snow on the panhandle of Florida. If that sounds familiar, it should. It snowed there last year, too. lol The winter storm warning can be seen by the white-shaded counties on the map below. The blue-shaded counties are winter weather advisories. I would argue those advisories need to be extended toward western North Carolina.
Notice the moisture in Mississippi and Alabama. It’s light but that could help bring us some more flurries tonight on the plateau. Overnight lows will be in the teens, so it’s certainly cold enough to snow! Plus, the colder air will encourage the atmosphere to drop whatever moisture it has, which for us could mean more flurries.
The hourly temps for today have been updated. Temps take a dive tonight!
This is one of the models showing expected snowfall accumulation over the next 24 hours. Notice that big area of southern Georgia, southeast Alabama, and even parts of the Florida Panhandle that may be under the gun for accumulating snowfall on Sunday! The trend with this has been pulling the moisture more westward, which is why areas of the Smokies are starting to show up with a risk for light snow tomorrow.
Bitter cold overnight lows are still expected for the next several nights. Monday night will bring lows in the single digits. Prepare now for that cold. Make sure your pipes are protected, your elderly and/or disable neighbors have safe and reliable heat, and make sure the outdoor pets have a warm bed out of any wind.
The middle and end of next week continues to look interesting. It looks like we may have some more wintry precip opportunities. I’ll keep you posted!
You all take care! I’ll keep an eye on things and bring any special updates, as needed!
Thank You, Sponsors!
Other important weather information will be shared when needed. This includes additional severe weather information, model data, drought info, hurricane info, and more. Some of these can be found as tabs to this page at any time.
Disclaimer: This website/app should never be considered your primary source of severe weather warnings.