Snow, ice forecast for area Sunday
Published 7:50 pm Friday, January 7, 2011
Editor’s Note: As of Saturday morning, the snow and ice forecast has changed. The current forecast calls for up to half an inch of ice between 6 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday with little to no snow accumulation.
The National Weather Service is calling for blustery wintery mix this weekend extending into Monday, which could lead to hazardous travel conditions.
Jody Aaron, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said temperatures were unlikely to rise above freezing Sunday and Monday and he is expecting some snowfall Sunday morning before that transitions into freezing rain.
“We could definitely see some hazardous traveling conditions for sure,” he said. “The biggest variable here is surface temperature. If temperatures continue to trend downward, we’re looking at about 28 to 29 degrees Sunday morning with a high of about 32, maybe 33 degrees during the day.”
While Aaron said the possibility for snow certainly exists, he said it was difficult to pinpoint how much could be expected as conditions continue to develop in the Gulf.
“What we have is a Gulf low,” he said of the weather conditions that are providing potential for winter weather. “Where the low settles, and how it develops, will dictate how much and what kind of precipitation certain areas of the state will receive.”
The latest models from the NWS project between one to four inches of snow and ice. Other models have shown a forecast of between four and eight inches possible for North-Central Alabama.