Heavy Snow and Ice Is Forecast for Southern U.S. on Thursday and Friday

A strip of what forecasters are calling “heavy snow and disruptive ice” is anticipated to pile up throughout the South via the top of the week. From the southern plains of Texas and Oklahoma to the Carolina coastal plains, a lot of this winter precipitation is forecast to fall on locations the place persons are much less accustomed to winter climate, and it’s more likely to trigger hazardous driving circumstances, energy outages and faculty closures.

Key issues to know

• Within the Southern United States, it doesn’t take big quantities of snow or ice to disrupt on a regular basis life.

• Over a half foot of heavy snow is anticipated to create harmful journey circumstances alongside and south of Interstate 40 throughout Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.

• Farther south, alongside and simply north of Interstate 20 from Texas to Georgia, snow is more likely to change to sleet and freezing rain as hotter air noses in above the freezing temperatures on the floor.

• The area will proceed to see cooler temperatures into subsequent week, prolonging the probability of hazardous journey circumstances.

Early Thursday morning, the snow was already falling throughout northern Texas and into Oklahoma because the storm started to take form within the Gulf of Mexico earlier than an anticipated shift to the northeast. The heavier snow is more likely to stay in northern Texas and into Oklahoma. Probably the most likely snowfall totals in Texas might be between two and 4 inches, primarily alongside and north of I-20, in an space that averages lower than two inches per season.

Anticipating the potential results, Dallas faculties might be closed on Thursday and Friday. Gov. Greg Abbott used a information convention on Wednesday to warn drivers: “Watch out. Be cautious.”

“We’re not used to driving on ice and snow,” he mentioned to his fellow Texans. “We’re not used to driving in circumstances like this.”

Because the storm crosses the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday into Friday, any slight change in its path may lead to precipitation that differs from the forecast in a given space. A barely extra northern monitor would shift the heavier snow farther north and elevate the road of freezing rain and sleet. A extra southern monitor would do the alternative, bringing the heavier snow deeper into the South and leaving the northern areas dry.

Winter precipitation is anticipated throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas from Thursday night time into Friday. By early Friday morning, it’s going to have surged farther east throughout Tennessee, northern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Whereas Tennessee is not any stranger to winter storms, some areas, like Memphis, may obtain their largest two-day snow whole in 40 years.

Forecasters in Nashville reminded locals to not change into hung up on the exact quantities, as any snow may trigger hazardous journey within the area. In Atlanta, it has been almost 11 years since a small snowstorm, regionally known as snowmageddon, shut down the town and have become a punchline for a “Saturday Night Live” skit.

Whereas snow has fallen within the metropolis since then, it could nonetheless catch folks off guard as the kind of precipitation modifications via the day. What is anticipated to begin as snow Friday morning is more likely to flip to sleet after which freezing rain throughout the Atlanta metropolitan space, turning untreated roads into ice skating rinks by the night hours.

Throughout North Carolina, an identical state of affairs will start to unfold round noon Friday and final in a single day into Saturday. Accumulations of as much as two inches are at present anticipated within the Mid-Atlantic space east of the Allegheny Mountains.

The storm is then anticipated to maneuver off the coast, the place it’s going to strengthen however stay far sufficient away to keep away from being a significant hazard for the Northeast.

Irregular chilly throughout the East Coast is anticipated to proceed into subsequent week, permitting for some snow to stay round. And the place the snow has melted through the day, it could refreeze at night time, creating ongoing transportation hazards.