At Noon, Huntsville and Birmingham NWS offices continue to predict a significant (for the South) winter storm to affect North and Central Alabama tonight and tomorrow evening. If anything, the confidence level is increasing with this forecast.
Huntsville continues the Winter Storm Watch for its entire county warning area. They are predicting 1 to 3 inches at this time with up to 5 inches in extreme Northwest Alabama and also in higher elevations. Later this afternoon portions of the area may be placed under a warning.
Birmingham has issued a Heavy Snow Warning for Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Winston, and Walker, Blount, Etowah, and Cherokee Counties. They are expecting accumulations up to 2.5 inches in these areas between 6 this evening and 10 tomorrow morning.
Birmingham has also issued a Heavy Snow Warning for numerous other counties in Central Alabama. Cities included in this warning include: Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Talladega, Moundville, Clanton, Demopolis, Selma, Prattville, Auburn, Montgomery, Troy, and Phenix City. Noth of the I-20 corridor accumulations will be up to 1.5" and accumulations of up to one-half an inch may occur in the southern part of the warned area.
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1221 PM CST FRI MAR 7 2008
...WINTER WEATHER LIKELY ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TONIGHT...
.COLD AIR FILTERING INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY...COMBINED WITH AN
UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS THE AREA...WILL BRING SNOW
TO THE REGION TONIGHT. A BRIEF WINTRY MIX IS POSSIBLE AS THE
PRECIPITATION CHANGES FROM RAIN TO SNOW.
LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN-
JACKSON-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLORENCE...MUSCLE SHOALS...
RUSSELLVILLE...MOULTON...ATHENS...HUNTSVILLE...DECATUR...
SCOTTSBORO...LYNCHBURG...FAYETTEVILLE...WINCHESTER
1221 PM CST FRI MAR 7 2008
...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM CST THIS
EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...
A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM CST THIS EVENING
THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
RAINFALL THIS EVENING IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW
DURING THE EVENING HOURS. TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3
INCHES ARE POSSIBLE...WITH ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 5 INCHES IN EXTREME
NORTHWEST ALABAMA AND AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED
TO PERSIST SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE TAPERING OFF SATURDAY
AFTERNOON.
PORTIONS OF THIS WATCH ARE LIKELY TO BE UPGRADED TO A WINTER STORM
WARNING LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
ROADS...BRIDGES...AND OVERPASSES IN THE WATCH AREA MAY BECOME
SLICK AND HAZARDOUS. EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION IF TRAVEL IS
NECESSARY.
REMEMBER...A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
FOR A HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER EVENT IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
HUNTSVILLE.
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2 comments:
This forecast was blown way out of proportion. Even as the precip around the upper low was diminishing, heavy snow warnings were being maintained. This was an overly aggressive forecast and diminished public confidence.
The criteria for this warning in Alabama is 2". Most areas received less than one inch.
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