The one nice thing about more goddamned snow is that I’m pretty sure I won’t have to report to jury duty Thursday:
A storm system will begin to form in the Gulf of Mexico tonight and move near the Florida panhandle by Wednesday night. Moisture will begin to stream northward out of the Gulf by late tonight and move into the Southeast by early Wednesday. In the deep south areas like Atlanta and Greenville will see ice and possibly a lot of it, see the ice storm story for details on the ice aspect of this system.As the system moves northward it will start to strenghten and move up along the East Coast as it does so. There will be ample precipitation with this system and snow from South Carolina on northward will be very heavy. Rates in this storm from south to north will be on the order of 1-2 inches per hour for a long duration. Snow should last between 12-20 hours in the areas that expect the most snow.
Highest snow totals will be from western North Carolina up into Maine, where a foot or more snow may fall. This will be the biggest snowfall in a few years for some locations, like Washington D.C, where since the 09-10 season, snowfall has been hard to find. Temperatures with this system will be around the freezing mark in the south making for a heavy wet snow.In the north some fluffier snow will be found as you get further west from the low, though most ratios should be 12:1 or less. Areas I-95 and east may mix with sleet or rain and could cut down totals. Will need to watch for this. Winds will all be an issue for areas in Virginia northward. Some blizzard conditions may be found near the coast and near blizzard condtions back to the I-95 corridor. Travel is not advised for Wednesday-Thursday in the south and Wednesday night-Thursday night in the north. Highest amounts will be over a foot, but how high totals can go is still unknown. Below is our first call map, areas in the 9-12″ could see locally over a foot as well. Final call comes out tomorrow morning.
Ice for the south:
In a dire warning Tuesday, forecasters said a “catastrophic” winter storm threatened to bring a thick layer of ice to Georgia and other parts of the South, causing widespread power outages that could leave people in the dark for days.
Many people heeded the advice to stay home and off the roads, leaving much of metro Atlanta desolate during what is typically a busy morning commute. While only rain fell in the city, places 40 miles northwest saw 2 to 3 inches of snow.
In their warning, National Weather Service forecasters cited potentially crippling snow and ice accumulations as much as three-quarters of an inch for Atlanta. Wind gusts up to 25 mph could exacerbate problems.
President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Georgia, ordering federal agencies to help with the state and local response.
