Posted on 01/29/2010 1:21:29 PM PST by Star Traveler
By Thea Agnew | January 28, 2010 |
According to the weather channel we are in the Winters Triple Threat. Are you ready for this storm? As of 8:30 pm Thursday night, Nashville is supposed to get over a foot by the time it is all finished on Sunday! Clarksville is north of Nashville, so we are probably looking in the range of possibly 12-18 inches. Hopkinsville, KY which is only 20 minutes away from Exit 1 in Clarksville is said to have approximately 18 inches! (I cannot believe these numbers have been broadcast!)
Clarksville has been gearing up for this storm that is 1700 miles long since wednesday by putting down the salt or brine. The roads will be dangerous, so please stay off of them. There has even been concerns of power outages. As I was in Wal-Mart this afternoon, I ran into a lot of my friends who were getting ready for the storm that will keep us indoors. They even mentioned the fact that we might lose our electric. There is always a possibility. Those without a fireplace, do you know how you would stay warm if the electric is to go out?
Here are some ideas* to stay warm if you dont have electric or a fireplace. First make sure that you have not blown a fuse and check your circuit breaker in your electrical home panel. If the power is out over a widespread area, it may take longer to restore power everywhere. Sometimes it can be out for days.
As of 8:30 pm Oklahoma is without power for 63,000 residents and it could take up to 5 days to restore power! They have freezing rain and will have over 16 inches of snow after that.
Texas has wind damage reports at peak: 7,500 without power and road crews are on 24 hour mode. Floods here and more to come! Wind has been the biggest culprit.
Arkansas is stock piling poles 400 linemen are on standby to replace. That is a lot of poles!
This is coming our way! Over 21 million people will be impacted!
That wasn’t for one day, you mean for the whole month ?
No, that’s the Cheatham County in Tanzania.
Zone Forecast
TNZ026>028-301015-
Cheatham-Davidson-Wilson-
Including The Cities Of...Ashland City...Kingston Springs...Lebanon...Mount Juliet...Nashville
413 PM CST FRI JAN 29 2010
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST SATURDAY...
TONIGHT
snow continuing. Additional snow accumulation of 4 to 6 inches. Lows in the lower 20s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent.
I saw that this morning. It should be plastered on billboards across the U.S., Great Britain and Europe.
I’m in Huntsville, Alabama. We’ve been having a mixture of rain, freezing rain, and sleet all day. Been under a winter storm warning since mid morning.
Got Shovel?
LOL ...
It's headed towards about 8 inches or more (here in Tulsa, OK), it looks like, with six inches already down on the ground, and that's from no snow at all at around noon (just the ice glazing from yesterday). That's about five hours ago... :-)
LOL!
Im in Huntsville, Alabama. Weve been having a mixture of rain, freezing rain, and sleet all day. Been under a winter storm warning since mid morning.
I think I can get an Alabama Storm thread going for y'all... :-)
My cousin is in Nashville.
They have 2 inches of snow and she has posted from her mobile phone that the lights are blinking out. Its herself, her disabled son and her elderly mother. She said no help from caregivers because they cant make it through the snow but they have plenty of food and firewood.
I hope things go well for her. As long as they're stocked up, I guess they're okay for the moment. I don't think this will be a long-lasting storm and hopefully the power won't be a problem...
one day Saturday night Sunday morning.
We have about 3 to 4 inches southeast of Nashville. It was a mess out there. My hubby was out with law enforcement today and cars were piled up everywhere.
it’s all snow here in Franklin-TN area
We had a big snow in January 1996 which oddly enough on http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=221498 that is exactly what the meteorlogists were saying this had the potential to mimic.
u sure did I drove in it and had to turn back and go thru Jackson-Bolivar-Holly Springs to get to Oxford Miss, greater Memphis was a standstill
You got more than we have...I’m up Colombia Pike on Henpeck Lane....about 4 miles due south of Franklin square
we have around 2-3 but still pouring down....Cool Springs was a zoo of traffic folks trying to get home
YouTUbe - Billie Holliday - Am I Blue?
NWS: Knoxville area could get 15 inches of snow by Saturday
Staff and wire reports
Posted January 29, 2010 at 12:02 p.m.
Updated January 29, 2010 at 3:22 p.m.
KNOXVILLE - Forecasters are now saying that Knoxville could see its heaviest snowfall since the famous Blizzard of 1993, with total precipitation topping out at as much as 15 inches by Saturday night.
The National Weather Service says that up to an inch is possible by this evening, 7 to 11 inches may fall overnight, and up to 3 additional inches Saturday.
The high Saturday isn't expected to climb above freezing, which means that the snowfall could easily hold on through Sunday, when the mercury is predicted to reach 33.
Up to 17 inches is predicted for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while the Cumberland Plateau may see just under a foot, according to the most recent NWS forecast.
As East Tennesseans braced for its effects, a strong winter storm system began dropping freezing rain, sleet and snow across the Volunteer State, fed by abundant moisture from a strong low pressure system in the Deep South.
"This would be a major winter storm for this part of the country - heck, for any part of it," said Mark Rose, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Nashville.
Expected snow depth from the storm ranged from a few inches in the southern part of the state to as much as a foot near the Kentucky and Virginia borders.
According to the National Weather Service, precipitation was expected to beginning falling this afternoon across East Tennessee. It will likely increase in intensity tonight and overnight.
Forecasters say it's tough to be more precise because East Tennessee is in a "transition zone" between snow, sleet and rain. The dividing line now appears to be from Sequatchie County to Monroe County, according to the weather service.
By noon temperatures had risen to the mid 30s.
Temperatures also will be a factor in the kind of precipitation the area sees, with sectors below freezing seeing more snow.
Nashville was forecast to get 5 to 11 inches.
Winter storm warnings were posted from Arkansas through the Carolinas.
Before moving into the South, the storm toppled power lines, closed major highways and buried parts of the southern Plains in heavy ice and snow. Power was out for tens of thousands of people and some travelers were stranded along Interstate 40, which was closed from the Texas-Oklahoma line to New Mexico.
Freezing rain began falling in Memphis shortly after dawn this morning. By midmorning it was snowing steadily in Nashville, 200 miles to the east.
Jeff Hooker, manager of the Piggly Wiggly in the Frayser area of Memphis, said customers were waiting to get in and buy groceries when the store opened up at 7 a.m.
"People here in Memphis, if there's just a little flight of bad weather they think they're going to get snowed in for a week," he said.
Hooker said some of his employees are afraid of driving in the snow, but he's not because he's got a big truck.
"I told those who's scared I'll pick them up in the morning and take them home ... maybe make a couple of runs," Hooker said.
An emergency operations center opened in Memphis around 2 a.m., Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Shular said. There were 22 traffic crashes during the morning rush as driving conditions deteriorated.
City and county school systems across Tennessee were closed and, uncommonly, the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee-Martin canceled Friday classes.
More rain, freezing rain and sleet was expected in the southern part of Tennessee while northern sections were expecting mostly snow.
"It's not that the precipitation is lighter," Rose explained, "It just depends on what form it takes."
Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was being pumped northward and colliding with Arctic air sinking south.
More details as they develop online and in Saturday's News Sentinel.
In anticipation of the storm, area schools closed. See the latest list of closings.
Get the latest severe weather alerts, school closing information, forecasts and breaking news on your cell by signing up at MyKnoxnews.com. Also, you can get Knoxville weather information at KnoxvilleWX on Twitter.
Send us weather photos from your area to im@knoxnews.com or upload them at im.knoxnews.com.
January 29, 8:58 AM
Raleigh Weather Examiner
Allan Huffman
Major winter storm unfolding in the southern US
Our major southeast winter storm is currently pounding the southern plains with snow and ice yesterday in Texas and Oklahoma, and moving into southern Missouri and Arkansas today. This may be remembered as an I-40 winter storm as the precip expands east and seems to focus along I-40 the next 48 hours.
Cold and dry air is moving into North Carolina this morning with temperatures in the low to mid 30s and dewpoints in the teens. This air mass is setting the stage for our winter storm and will continue to be advected in by a building surface high in the Great Lakes that will ridge into the northeast US the next few days.
Ok, so down to the storm. I have updated my map below with the latest forecast. I will issue updates to the map if I see a need to make a change to the zones.
Zone A: I think a band of 12-18 inches of snow could fall across the extreme northern North Carolina piedmont as well as the southern Virginia border counties. This area should see mostly all snow although I can not rule out a little sleet in the eastern sections of this zone.
Zone B: This area will see a substantial snow with as much as 6-10 inches likely. Most areas will likely see all snow from this in this zone. If there is any last minute trend north, this area could see closer to a foot or more, if there is a last second trend south some areas in this zone will only see light accumulations.
Zone C: This zone which includes most of the I-40 corridor in North Carolina from Hickory to Raleigh as well as the northeast piedmont will likely see a snow/sleet mix with more snow than sleet. We will see a substantial period of all snow to start which could accumulate to 6-8 inches. Then by Saturday morning sleet could mix in and limit further big snow accumulations, a change back to snow with light snow accumulations is likely Saturday afternoon and evening. IF, we see less sleet mix in, this area could easily see 12-15 inches of snow. For now though, I think we do see some sleet mix in and thus this area will see 8-12 inches of total snow and sleet accumulation.
Zone D: To keep continuity I kept the major ice area zone D. I have shifted this a little south though, south of the Charlotte area. This region from the North Carolina sandhills into the southeast piedmont and much of upstate South Carolina and extreme NE Georgia could see a severe ice storm. I think at least 0.5 inch of ice accrual will occur with as much as 1 inch of ice accrual possible. This will be a severe event and you should be ready to lose trees and power. The western part of this zone could see the precip begin as rain and snow and change to snow with some light accumulations before a change to freezing rain.
Zone E: This zone lies between the severe ice storm and the zone that will see mostly snow and only some sleet. I think this zone sees a healthy mix of snow and sleet especially from the southern foothills east, that will accumulate to 4-8 inches. The southern mountains could see more snow than sleet and could end up higher than 8 inches, but for now this seems like a good call.
Zone F: This zone will see significant ice, but not as much as zone D. Many areas will likely start as rain and transition to ice. I could see 0.25-0.5 inch ice accrual of freezing rain in this zone. Areas south of this zone could see some marginal freezing rain but not as much as this area.
Zone G: This zone will likely see rain change to snow or sleet Saturday. For now I will keep accumulations light at 1-2 inches, but this will be an area to monitor to see when the changeover occurs.
Zone H: This is a tricky area, and I dont pretend to know southeast Tennessee climo well. It looks like a mess that could go either way, some runs have shown a heavy wet snow and other mostly rain. I think a mixed bag will fall here with some snow accumulation likely.
I also want to mention that the models are showing the possibility for thunder Saturday morning into early afternoon in northern North Carolina and southern Virginia. So dont be surprised if you hear thunder tomorrow morning in those areas.
Very cold weather will follow this storm the snow cover causing very cold overnight lows and reducing the warming potential during the day. For now the models look paltry for any precipitation Tuesday/Wednesday but if some does come we may have to worry about at least some freezing rain. For now I leave that mention out.
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