WBRC Weather

First Snow Pictures Of The Night

Light snow continues to fall at this late night hour and we’ve started receiving some viewer pictures of snow accumulating on exposed surfaces such as car tops. The top image was sent to us from Goldridge in Northeast Cullman County. The bottom image comes to us from Double Springs in Winston County. If you have any snow pictures you’d like to share you can email them to pix@wbrc.com or upload them at tellfox.com.

J-P will have another winter weather update coming up on Fox 6 News at 10.

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

Weather Picture: Interesting View Of Virga Over Hanceville

Check out these neat weather pictures from Hanceville. Viewer Julie Keen captured these pictures yesterday as flurries fell across the area. Most of the precipitation was evaporating, resulting in low hanging virga.

-Upload your weather pictures at tellfox.com-

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

High Resolution View Of The 2013 Blizzard

Check out this high resolution view of the 2013 New England Blizzard from the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory. Winds continue to gust over 30 mph in parts of the region this morning. The highest snow total I could find was 28.3" in Southwick, MA. 

Link to an NWS interactive display with areal snow totals

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

Winter Weather Advisory Update

The NWS has canceled the Winter Weather Advisory for Cullman County. Only Dekalb and Jackson counties remain in the advisory. Officials in northern Dekalb County continued to report some accidents related to icy roads near the Cartersville community. For much of North Alabama, rising temperatures are allowing for improving conditions. Temperatures in our area are well above freezing so we don’t expect any icy roads. Showers will be impacting the area this afternoon and evening. Some sleet could still mix in with the precipitation to the northeast as the air continues to saturate. This won’t be a problem since surface temperatures will remain above freezing.

Have a wonderful Saturday afternoon!

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

Dangerous Travel Conditions In North AL...Winter WX Advisory Continues For Cullman County

A Winter Weather Advisory is in place for Cullman County through 2 PM. A light mixture of sleet, snow, rain, and freezing rain continues to make a push across north Alabama this morning. Icy bridges and dangerous travel conditions have developed in Morgan, Lawrence, and Franklin counties. Dangerous road conditions are now developing in Marshall and Dekalb counties.  Up to a quarter-inch of snow has accumulated in far northern parts of the state in the “deeper” colder air.

(Hines Street, Athens, AL, Source: WAFF)

Here are some reports from Twitter...Huntsville Police Department closing Westbound I-565 at Oakwood while multiple wreckers respond to remove vehicles from an accident scene. Also, Decatur Police Department warns drivers that all bridges and overpasses have iced over and are extremely dangerous.

Light precipitation in the form of a rain/sleet mix is beginning to reach the surface in Cullman County. Use extra caution in the winter weather advisory zones.  The axis of precipitation will get a push southward later today, with showers lingering during the evening hours. A wintry mix may continue in some areas to the far northeast during the afternoon where the air remains bitterly cold and dry.  I will have another live Advisory update at 10:30 AM on Fox 6.

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

Some Ice Still in Forecast

Travel will not be an issue for most of our area.  This is not an event like last week with a surprise.  In fact, the forecast is pretty clear cut.  We were fortunate enough to have sunshine today with temperatures in a few places reaching the lower 60s.  Folks - the ground is warm and it's going to take a lot of rain and cold air to get significant icing problems.

Our forecast model is indicating the best chance of ice development tomorrow morning in Etowah and Cherokee Counties.  We could see a few issues in Blount and Calhoun Counties.  This will be mainly on bridges, elevated roads, and hilly terrain.

This is not going to be a long-lived weather event.  Temperatures will warm above freezing by mid-morning with just rain and clouds expected the rest of the day.
Fox 6 will have updates on-air and online.  Wes Wyatt and Mickey Ferguson will have updates tomorrow morning beginning at 4:30am.  We'll also have crews reporting live on any road problems.

J-P Dice
Fox 6 Chief Meteorologist
jdice@wbrc.com
Twitter: @jpdice_Fox6

Here We Go Again - This Time Freezing Rain

Last week it was snow and now it's ice some of us will be dealing with us early Friday morning.  This particular situation will not be full of as many surprises because there is no upper-level low involved.  This is a situation where we have cold air invading from the East.  The classic Winter wedge effect and precipitation happening at the same time.  

Where? The main concern for travel issues will be Cullman, Blount, Etowah, Cherokee, Calhoun, Cleburne, and Randolph Counties.  While ice will not be everywhere, it will most likely accumulate on elevated roadways as well as hilly terrain.  Your sidewalk or driveway may also be slick.  You will probably notice it building up on powerlines and in trees.

What Time? Light rain and drizzle will begin falling after 3am and continue through Friday morning.  The peak time of freezing rain development is probably going to be between 4 and 8am.  Before and after that - temperatures will be slightly above freezing at 33-36 degrees.  Highs on Friday will reach the lower 40s.

There are some misconceptions about freezing rain.  Freezing rain is not frozen raindrops.  It sometimes starts as snow failing from a cloud and then melting through a warm layer and then freezing on-contact when surface temperatures are at 32 or below.

Freezing rain is expecially a problem when you have had temperatures in the teens and 20s for days and heavy rain is moving into a area.  That can be a nightmare.

The setup for Friday's possible freezing rain is the result of cold air "wedging" underneath the Appalachians.  This usually just means a colder day for people in East Alabama, but when there is precipitation involved it can mean travel issues.  The NAM model clearly shows that wedge Friday morning.  You can see the colder colors on the map creeping in from the East.

 Fortunately, the models are not painting much precipitation.  The NAM is very light on the rain.  It has backed off just a bit.  The GFS still squeezes out some light rain and drizzle by daybreak.  As you can see at midnight, we are still dry.

By 7am, the GFS does show some light rain in Northeast Alabama.  Again, the prime-time for ice development will most likely be between 4am and 7am.

Most of the Fox 6 viewing area will experience rain tomorrow morning and for most it will just be a cold rain and drizzle.  We'll monitor the situation for any changes and keep the updates flowing here on the blog.  Right now - forecast models are suggesting a minor ice event for Northeast Alabama.  This still means there could be some slick spots and dangerous roads so take it easy and use caution early tomorrow morning.

J-P Dice
Fox 6 Chief Meteorologist
jdice@wbrc.com
Twitter: @jpdice_Fox6 

Forecast Discussion Update: Another Winter Weather Threat

We’ve got another challenging forecast to talk about this afternoon and this time it involves the possibility of ice. The sky has been very cloudy today but radar continues to show no rainfall activity in the area. A few showers will be possible tonight as another cold front drops into the state. The greatest chance for a passing shower will be in northern communities. Temperatures tonight will remain above freezing so ice won’t be an issue tomorrow morning. It will be colder tomorrow, with highs in the 40s. You can expect more clouds, with a small chance for rain.

Tomorrow night is when things get interesting as a cold air damming situation develops over Georgia. Cold-dense air associated with high pressure over the Ohio Valley Region will be flowing down the eastern Appalachian range and into Alabama tomorrow night. During this time we expect showers to develop as moisture overruns Alabama tomorrow night and on Friday. Temperatures will be very close to freezing and since the air will be dry, evaporative cooling could further lower the temp.  So the chance for winter weather is back on the table.

So what type of winter weather, when and where?

A deep melting layer in the atmosphere will promote the development of freezing rain or glaze. The greatest chance for freezing rain will be from Blount County southeast to Randolph County and points east (we will have a map posted on our weather blog at myfoxtracker.com). Up to 1/10 inch of ice accumulation will be possible in these areas and this could cause travel trouble. The primary concern will be tomorrow night and Friday morning. For areas not in the winter weather threat, we expect cold and overcast conditions, with light showers. That said if you live in central and western Alabama I encourage you to check in for the latest forecast updates. Any small change in forecast temperatures could make a huge change in the type of precipitation...see you at 5 p.m.

Fox6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt
wwyatt@wbrc.com
Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

Winter Weather Advisory Northwest Alabama (3 PM Monday - 6 AM Tuesday)

(Counties in Purple-Freezing Rain Advisory, Counties in Green-Flood Warnings, Counties in Blue-Winter Storm Watch, Counties in Brown-Winter Weather Advisory)

At midnight most of the rain in our area was located over south and eastern parts of the coverage area. In addition to the rain, much colder air continues to spill into Alabama. We expect more showers to begin developing to our southwest and lifting into the coverage area by daybreak. This shower activity is expected to increase in coverage during the day Monday, with highs only in the low 40s. We’ve been mentioning a small threat of some freezing rain in our far northwest counties and we wanted to further discuss the setup for these areas. 

First off, the areas being closely monitored include Marion and Winston counties. There will be a brief window tomorrow and again tomorrow night where temperatures at the surface will drop close to the freezing mark. Sometimes the models can have a difficult time resolving the southern extent of these shallow-cold air masses. If temperatures do manage to drop closer to the freezing mark during the mentioned time frames, there could be a couple of periods of light freezing rain. We don’t expect any problems at this time but this is a setup that will need to be closely monitored.

Winter Weather Advisory Northwest Alabama (3PM Monday - 6 AM Tuesday)

The threat for freezing rain is much greater further north over Colbert and Franklin counties. Tomorrow night as the rain increases, temperatures in these counties will hover near freezing. The NWS Huntsville has issued a winter weather advisory for Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence, Limestone, Moore, and Lincoln counties from 3 PM through 6 AM Tuesday. Up to 0.3” of ice could accumulate on exposed surfaces (trees & powerlines) in these areas tomorrow night. Travel will not be advised as ice will begin to develop on bridges and overpasses.

So why freezing rain?

The temperature profile throughout the atmosphere is the key to the type of winter precipitation. Temperatures through a deep layer of the atmosphere are expected to be mainly above freezing but a shallow layer of cold air near the surface will be at freezing. This is a classic recipe for the development of freezing rain, also known as glaze. The precipitation will fall as rain but as the rain settles on the surface, the freezing temperatures will allow the ice to form. For some counties in the advisory, there may be enough cold air aloft to allow for sleet development but profiles suggest mainly freezing rain. 

Snow possibilities in the southeast? Be sure to check the blog on Monday. Dr. Tim will be providing an in-depth discussion about an upper level low set to impact the state on Thursday. He will talk about how these systems can produce snow and where snow could develop in the Deep South. 

Fox 6 Meteorologist Wes Wyatt

wwyatt@wbrc.com

Twitter @weswyattweather
Facebook.com/weswyattfox6

A Few Flakes of Snow - Maybe?

I've already been hearing the questions.  How much snow do you think we'll get?  Of course, my response has been we're not going to get any snow.  This is true as far as accumulating snowfall is concerned.  But - I do think we'll see some sleet, rain, and a few snowflakes mixing together tonight mainly in our Northern Counties.  This includes Marion, Winston, Cullman, Blount, Etowah, and Cherokee.  The ground temperatures and air temperatures will be too warm for anything to stick around.  For those who have friends and relatives in the Tennessee Valley - there may be some minor acccumulations near the Alabama and Tennessee border.

Forecast models are squeezing out the moisture, but we don't have the right temperatures for a Winter weather event.  

This Critical Winter Weather Thickness lines are all north of our area based on the 12z NAM.  An easy way to figure out whether or not snow is likely - if you live north of the lines - you will see snow.  If you live south of the lines - it will primarily be rain.  Temperatures tonight will only fall into the mid to upper 30s.


Rain will likely last through early Tuesday morning leaving us with cloudy skies by the afternoon.  We are expecting a good rebound of temperatures for Wednesday and by Wednesday night we can expect another round of rain and even some thunderstorms.  However, instability looks to be lacking with this next system.  That's a good thing - with the high helicity values we'd be running into a severe weather event if the CAPE values were higher.  At this point - it looks like thunder may very well be limited.

 Rain and occasional thunderstorms will last through part of Thursday and we expect things to clear out on the backside of this system.  I'm expecting sunshine for Friday and Saturday with highs in 60s.

James-Paul Dice
Fox 6 Chief Meteorologist
jdice@wbrc.com
Twitter: @jpdice_Fox6