Not so much humor and snark today, as a legitimately serious ice storm seems to be developing for this weekend. Here is the graphic from the NWS Charleston forecast office briefing at 5am this morning:
And here from Peachtree City (Atlanta) on the left and Columbia SC on the right:
As is typical of winter storms in the southeast, the forecast is complex and evolving, but the conditions are shaping up for the potential for freezing rain and ice accumulating on trees, power lines, and roads. Although even a thin layer of ice on sidewalks and roads is dangerous, at least you can stay home. The point we get concerned is when the ice accumulation gets over about a quarter inch, and really start to worry when it’s over half an inch. At that point power lines start coming down, and tree limbs (and full trees!) start to take out the rest.
Right now it looks like freezing rain and sleet (red and purple, snow is blue and rain is green) )will be starting over Texas and extending in to Mississippi and Alabama starting Friday night …
By Saturday afternoon there is expected to be a broad swath of freezing rain across the entire southeast …
and by Sunday morning may well be extending into the sacred precincts of the Frogmore Metroplex itself (Coastal GA and the Lowcountry of SC) …
Models are mixed, it may persist in to Monday morning …
Rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow are all in the mix, which will create a huge mess. Rain falling on frozen surfaces may freeze or refreeze overnight, as temperatures will be hovering around freezing the entire period. Snow isn’t generally a huge problem, so further north (TN/NC) should be all snow, it’s that band in the middle that looks messy.
TL;DR is to be prepared to “hunker down” across the southeast this weekend, and especially along the I-20 corridor, for extended power outages from a 10 year+ ice storm. Those as far south as the Savannah/Fort Stewart area need to be aware that travel will probably get dicey, and as the regional power grid takes a big hit, outages even if locally it isn’t as bad.
Will have better data and forecasts tomorrow.
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Thanks for the both timely and factual information. Folks can truly make plans based on this and hopefully keep safe and warm. This is truly a public service, and is appreciated as such.
Any advice for someone flying in to Sav late Sunday night with a stop in ATL?
plan on getting stuck somewhere. if the forecast holds up air travel will be a nightmare. Any travel, actually.