Major Winter Storm Starts Across The South

A major winter storm is in the process of bringing a little bit of everything with a Tornado watch issued for through parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and winter weather warnings from Arkansas and Kansas all the way to New York City across 19 different states with snow or rain falling in 24 states. A potentially record breaking blizzard is expected to hit the mid-Atlantic and fall just short of hitting New England. Currently, locations under winter weather advisories are also under Severe Thunderstorm warnings and the tornado watch box for today is adjacent to counties that have winter weather advisories issued for later on today. It’s important for those who are in the worse affected areas to prepare themselves for what’s about to hit them. Do the basics like have a home safety kit, have enough food and water for at least 3 days, etc. You should also act fast after the storm has passed, checking your property for any damage it sustained. If you need to get roofing howard county md repairs after your roof was damaged in the storm then make sure you get it repaired quickly before it causes water damage. If you are a lover of dogs and enjoy taking your furry family member for walks regularly, we’d advise you to keep your dog dry as consistent wet fur for dogs can lead to illness, also it makes keeping home tidier and dry, easy.

Tornado Watches (some info is out of date now):

A Tornado Watch has been issued until 7 PM for

Angelina, Jefferson, Orange, Shelby, Hardin, Nacodoches, Sabine, Tyler, Jasper, Newton and San Augustine Counties in Texas.

Acadia, Beauregard, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Rapides, Vermilion, Allen, Calcasieu, Evangeline, La Salle, Sabine, Vernon, Avoyelles, Caldwell, Grant, Watchitoches, St. Landry, and Winn Counties in Louisiana.

Strong to Severe Thunderstorms have been occurring in this region and will continue to occur this evening. Several Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings have already been issued and this area will continue to bear watching for additional warnings this evening and even into the overnight hours as the system moves away.

A Tornado Watch has been issued until 10 PM for:

Ascension, Concordia, Iberia, Lafayette, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. James, St. Mary, Tensas, West Baton Rouge, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, West Feliciana, Catahoula, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Martin, Tangipahoa, and Washington Counties in Louisiana.

As well as Adams, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lamar, Lincoln, Neshona, Pike, Simpson, Warren, Amite, Covington, Hinds, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Madison, Newton, Rankin, Smith, Wilkinson, Claiborne, Forrest, Jasper, Jones, Leake, Marion, Pearl River, Scott, and Walthall Counties in Mississippi.

Strong to Severe Thunderstorms have been occurring in this region and will continue to occur this evening into the overnight hours. Several Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings have already been issued and are currently active. This area will continue to bear watching for additional warnings this evening and even into the overnight hours as the system begins to move away.

Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri:

Light to moderate snow showers are currently falling from an area near Lincoln and Omaha Nebraska over to Oskaloosa, Iowa and down through much of Missouri and Kansas east of Witchita.

Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for the following Counties in Kansas: Cherokee, Crawford, Bourbon, Allen, Wilson, Greenwood, Lyon, Chase, Marion, Coffey, Anderson, Linn, Miami, Franklin, Osage, Shawnee, Jackson, Atchison, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, Douglas and Johnson Counties.

And the following counties in Missouri: Platte, Clay, Jackson, Cass, Bates, Vernon, Barton, Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Barry Lawrence, Dade, Cedar, Saint Clair, Henry, Johnson, Benton, Morgan, Hickory, Camden, Polk, Greene, Christian, Stone, Taney, Ozark, Douglas, Webster, Wright, Dallas, Laclede, Miller, Maries, Pulaski, Phelps, Texas, Dent, Shannon, Howell and Oregon

No advisories are issued for Nebraska or Iowa.

The further North and West you are the earlier these advisories will end with the first advisories ending at 4 PM CST and the last advisories ending around midnight CST.

A period of light to moderate snow is possible but the showers and squalls in this region are quickly diminishing. Accumulations of an inch are possible where these showers hold together with maybe 3-4 inches in the extreme Southeast corner of the state. As warm air begins to move back in at the surface this afternoon, patchy freezing drizzle is possible as the system pulls away. This region missed out on the storm for the most part as it developed too far to the south and east but the system will make the evening commute hazardous in many areas in this region none the less.

Arkansas and Northern Louisiana:

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the following Counties: Marion, Baxter, Fulton, Izard, Sharp, Randolph, Searcy, Stone Pope, Van Buren, Conway, Yell, Montgomery, Pike, Clark, Ouachita, Calhoun and Bradley.

The advisory is in effect from 6 PM until 9 AM Friday CST.

Some freezing rain and drizzle will impact this area through this evening and additional showers of freezing rain, sleet and snow are likely overnight into the early morning hours of Friday. A few hundreaths of an inch of ice accretion can be expected in the Advisory area with snow and sleet accumulations of up to an inch with locally higher amounts up to 2 inches possible.

A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the following Counties in Arkansas: Sharpe, Lawrence, Randolph, Greene, Clay, Independence, Jackson, Craighead, Poinsett, Mississippi, Cleburn, Faulkner, White, Woodruff, Cross, Saint Francis, Crittenden, Perry, Garland, Saline, Pulaski, Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, Lee Phillips, Hot Spring, Grant, Jefferson, Arkansas, Dallas, Cleveland, Lincoln, Desha, Drew, Ashley and Chicot

And the following Counties in Louisiana: Morehouse, West Carroll, East Carroll, Richland and Madison.

Winter Storm warnings are in effect starting around 6 PM in Northern Arkansas and lasting until 6 PM Friday in Southern Arkansas and Louisiana. A trace to a few hundredths of an inch of ice is expected to fall across this area with 2-5 inches of snow and locally higher amounts expected as the storm begins to move away. Snow will fall more heavily for a time in the Eastern Central to Southeastern sections of this watch area but more rain will fall the further south you go and will keep amounts slightly lower in Louisiana and extreme Southeast Arkansas but the east central portion of the state could see as much as a foot of snow as heavy snow moves in towards the end of the storm.

Map valid for Friday morning

Per the map , you can see precipitation moving into the Southeastern states as well as Kentucky, and towards the Mid-Atlantic.

Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana Ohio and West Virginia:

In Mississippi, North of Warren, Yazoo, Holmes, Attala, Winston and Noxubee, Winter Storm Warnings are in effect. More snow will fall in the western portion of the state where up to a foot of snow could fall as the cold air wraps around the back of the system. 3-6 inches will fall around Jackson with amounts dropping to 1-3 as you go toward the Alabama state line. For an interesting fun note, Warren County is currently under a Tornado Watch and then under the winter weather advisory for later on. Anyone for a tornadic thunder snow storm?

In Alabama, north of Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega, Clay and Cleburne Counties,

Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for an inch to 2 inches of snow. Rain will dominate the precipitation in this Alabama as the storm moves north and bring warm gulf air into the region but a late changeover to snow is possible for many areas as cold air wraps around the backside of the storm as it moves east. Accumulations are expected to be light but some sleet could fall during the transition as cold air at the surface moves in quicker than cold air aloft.

For Tennessee, every county in the state is under a Winter Weather Alert of some type. The middle of the state is under Winter Weather Advisories for 1-3 inches of snow. This area will also be impacted by the warm gulf air moving up into the region as the storm moves to the Northeast. After the initial low dissipates, the cold air coming in on the backside of the system will allow for a period of sleet and snow to occur and bring light accumulations to the area. In Western Tennessee, cold air will move in quicker as the storm stays south of Memphis and an area bounded by the state line towards Nashville will see amounts ranging from 4 inches upwards to a foot along the state line. Eastern portions of the state will see slightly higher amounts with 3-6 inches possible as precipitation begins as some snow and ice before changing to rain and then back to snow.

For Massac, Pope and Harden Counties in Illinois, Freezing rain is a major threat up to 2 tenths of an inch of freezing rain may fall with 3-6 inches of snow slated to fall.

The entire state of Kentucky is under winter weather warnings as freezing rain and snow are expected to accumulate through most of the state. Freezing rain accretion will be lower further east with a trace up to 2 tenths of an inch near Illinois. Nearly the entire state can expect at least 3 inches of snow with a swath from Louisville South expecting higher amounts throughout the entire state up towards 6 to 12 inches of snow. Eastern portions of the state as you approach the Appalachians will see 12-24 inches through the central part of the state.

In Indiana, Vandenburg, Warrick, Spencer, Dubois, Perry, Crawford, Orange, Washington, Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Scott, Jefferson, Switzerland, Ohio Counties are under Winter Weather Advisories for 1 to 4 inches of snow. These areas are on the northern fringe of the precipitation shield and will not see as much snow as areas to the south in Kentucky. Some counties to the north if these will see some wintry precipitation but only minor accumulations are expected.

For Ohio, Hamilton, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Pickaway, Fairfield, Perry, Muskingum, Guernsey, Belmont, Noble, and Monroe are under Winter Weather Advisories for 1-4 inches of snow. Similar to Indiana, these counties are on the fringe of the precipitation and will not see as much.

Brown, Adams, Highland, Ross, Pike, Scioto, Lawrence, Jackson, Gallia, Meigs, Vinton, Athens, Hocking, and Washington in Ohio are under Winter Storm Warnings for 4-8 inches of snow. This region will miss the really heavy stuff to the south.

Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida:

Florida will be a state that sees all rain and it presently has very little in the way of storm activity with a lone Severe Thunderstorm Warning active at the time of this writing. Friday will be a different story as the Storm Prediction Center gives a slight risk of severe weather to Northern Florida and Southern Georgia. While Florida won’t see any snow, showers and thunderstorms can be expected across the entire state.

For Georgia, only light amounts of snow are expected with 1-3 inches of snow and some light icing for the northern part of the state. Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for anywhere north of a Carrollton to Jonesboro to Lexington line including Atlanta.

A Freezing rain advisory has been issued in South Carolina for a line from Timmonsville to just north of Conway on into Castle Hayne North Carolina. A Trace up to a tenth of an inch of ice is expected in this region. Only a coating of snow may fall in this area.

Further North and West in South and North Carolina, The Piedmont region up into the mountains and foothills, including Greenville-Spartanburg and the Charlotte metro area should expect a significant icing situation with up to half an inch of ice accretion in the area. 2-10 inches of snow will fall with the higher amounts in the mountains and the lower amounts on the Piedmont. This ice and snow, along with gusty winds greatly increases the risk of power outages and makes for very dangerous travel. Any preparations for this storm should be completed by tonight.

The coastal plain for North Carolina also has winter weather advisories issued until 11 AM Friday. There will be about a tenth of an inch of snow and some small sleet accumulations. This will be a mostly rain event for this area as the storm develops off the coast.