An update on the winter weather potential for Sunday….
CHANGES: Winter weather advisory now in effect for Sunday morning for portions of southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama. Snow probabilities have increased, but forecast impacts have not changed.
Bottom Line: Rain tonight will mix with or end as light snow on Sunday morning, mainly in southwest Georgia, southeast Alabama, and over Florida along and north of SR 20 and I-10. Where accumulations occur, they will be light, amounting to less than one inch. Accumulations will mainly be confined to grassy surfaces. A Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect for places with the better odds of getting a dusting between a trace and one inch. This advisory includes portions of southwest Georgia and Henry County, Alabama. Travel impacts will be low or non-existent.
Overview: Another strong cold front begins to enter the area late Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. As cold air rapidly ushers in behind the front, some locations in the forecast area could see a brief change to a rain/snow mix or all snow mix for a short duration (1 to 3 hours) on Sunday morning. Due to warm pre-frontal temperatures this afternoon, any snow accumulations that occur Sunday morning will mostly likely be on grassy surfaces as warm ground temperatures will preclude accumulations on most roadways. Any accumulations on Sunday are likely to be short-lived as rapidly clearing skies for the afternoon will allow temperatures to climb into the mid to upper 40s.
Forecast probabilities for snow have increased with this morning update compared to 24 hours ago. This is largely due to colder air moving in slightly faster than was forecast at this time yesterday. Accordingly, this is also why the probabilities for seeing snow have increased further west across the Florida Panhandle and into southeast Alabama. With higher confidence now for some accumulating snow across southwest Georgia and portions of southeast Alabama, we have issued a winter weather advisory for Sunday morning. Some expansion/adjustment of the winter weather advisory is possible this afternoon after we review the latest afternoon model guidance.
As a reminder, this is not going to be like last January. This will be a “warmer” event with snow totals not currently forecast to be nearly as high as last year’s event.
