It starts out a a wisp of white cloud against the blue backdrop of a clear winter sky. The advancing white line of high cirrus clouds suddenly covers the entire sky. As the storm front approaches, the low storm clouds appear blue against the higher clouds, hence the name.

The cold front’s arrival is announced by a smattering of rain and strong northerly winds. The temperature plunges. Residents of the Plains know it as a blue norther. It is said that there is nothing separating the Plains from the Arctic but a few barbed wire fences. This is really true.

There are no mountain ranges like the Rockies to bottle up the cold air. When it comes south, it does so with a vengeance.

On this date, the most notable blue norther in history was racing southward. It would not stop until it got to Central America. On February 11, 1899, the temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. It would become one of the greatest all-time U.S. cold waves of all time. By the next day, temperatures in the Texas Panhandle would be as low as -23ºF at Tulia, tying the state’s all-time record low. Galveston Bay would be covered by a sheet of ice.

The low of -8F in Dallas on the 12th is still the city’s all time record low. It was –13F in Little Rock, -22F in Kansas City and –15F in Washington, D.C., all represent the lowest temperatures ever recorded at those stations.

Muscle Shoals is the northwestern most station in Alabama with hourly observations.

This is a record of the temperature change there since late this afternoon:

4 pm...50 degrees
5 pm...45
6 pm...43
7 pm...42
8 pm...42
9 pm...41
10 pm...40

Rain is widespread across Alabama except the extreme south. Just before 10 pm the heaviest was over Walker, Winston, Fayette and Marion County in NW Alabama.

The low pressure area causing all this was centered along the Mississippi Coast moving NE

So far, rain for most of Alabama but colder air is moving in. The nearest snow was over West Tennessee and Extreme NW Mississippi. However, 1/2 inch of snow on the ground at Florence in Extreme NW Alabama.

ACTUAL REPORTS WITHIN THE LAST HOUR
1/2 inch of snow at Florence, NW Alabama
38 in Tupelo with light rain
43 cloudy in Columbus, Miss.
46 rain in Jackson
48 heavy rain in Meridian
34 light rain in Jackson, Tenn.
35 light rain in Nashville
32 light snow at Clarksville, Tenn.
37 with rain in Cullman (the lowest temperature in Alabama at this time)

SO FAR TONIGHT
5 inches of snow at Somerville, Tenn., Fayette County
3 inches of snow near Millington, Tenn, Shelby County
4 inches of snow at Bartlett, Tenn., Shelby County

We are going live in a couple of minutes on our live stream on abc3340.com... we invite you to join us!

Click on the live stream button here:

http://www.abc3340.com/weather/

Here is the latest on the developing Winter Storm situation across the South...

Low pressure is getting organized over Louisiana and Southeast Texas tonight. A cold front extends from eastern Kentucky, across Nashville into eastern Mississppi and then southwestward to north of Jackson, Mississippi.

A wide swath of precipitation extends from Southeast Texas, across Louisiana, southeast Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama into Tenessee and Kentucky. Snow is falling over southwestern Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi as well as over the Cumberland Plateau of northern Tennessee into Kentucky. rain will gradually change to snow over the rest of Tennessee, Northern Mississippi and North Alabama overnight.

In Alabama, it will begin around midnight over northwestern sections and gradually the rain/snow changeover line will move southeastward during the early morning hours. Some snow is likely as far south as

A variety of Winter Storm Warnings, Heavy Snow Warnings, Snow Advisories cover areas from eastern Arkansas across Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama on northeast into the Mid Atlantic States. Winter Storm Watches are already posted for a large part of the northeastern United States for Saturday as this system is expected to become a major winter storm.

Up to 5-7 inches of snow is expected across the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, 3-5 inches from eastern Arkansas across western Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi. 1-3 inches will fall across the rest of North Mississippi. 1-2 inches will fall over North Alabama

Meanwhile, in the warm sector of the low, severe thunderstorms are possible over the next few hours over southern Louisiana. Wind advisories are in effect across a large part of Louisiana and Mississippi, even into Southwest Alabama.

Here are some snow reports from Tennessee and Mississippi...

3 inches...just SE of Olive Branch, MS (southeast of Memphis) as of 5:45 p.m.
3 inches...in Arkansas about 20 miles north of Tunica (5:35 p.m.)
4 inches...Union City, Tennessee (105 miles NNE of Memphis) as of 5:26 p.m.
1 inch...Tunica, Mississippi as of 4:55 p.m.
3 inches...Bartlett, Tennessee as of 4:00 p.m.

At 7 p.m., rain was falling over the northern half of Alabama. Temperatures ranged from 37 at Cullman and 41 to Meridianville to 47 at the Birmingham Airport and 48 at Tuscaloosa.

Obviously travel to the north and northwest of Birmingham could be a major problem tonight and Saturday. Along and north of I-59, slick spots will develop during the early morning hours. Along and north of the US-278 corridor, an inch of snow with up to two inches over higher elevations will create widespread travel problems.

If you are planning to travel, please check the latest forecasts and road conditions and decide accordingly. If you must travel into areas affected by the wintry conditions, prepare appropriately.

Snow showers will continue Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday morning across North and Central Alabama. A few areas that experience snow showers during that time may see a dusting of snow.

Be sure to watch James in just a few minutes at 8 p.m. on the dot-two digital channels and live via the streaming on the ABC3340 web site.

Once again I will be on our live stream on abc3340.com at 8:00 tonight to discuss ongoing weather and the weekend situation. It will also be on the "dot twos", our digital channels 33.2 and 40.2.

Some notes:

*I really think our best chance of getting the ground white this far south will come from snow showers during the day tomorrow. We actually might see those snow showers tomorrow night into Sunday morning.

*NWS continues a snow advisory for roughly the area along and north of U.S. 278, where some light accumulation is possible after midnight as the rain changes to show.

*Our new SKYCAM network station in Hamilton shows 42.2 degrees as I write this at 6:45 p.m.

*The snow will be tapering off in Memphis during the next few hours. Rain has changed to snow over much of Southeast Arkansas now, and it looks like snow will begin along U.S. 82 in Greenville and Greenwood, MS during the next couple of hours.

*The surface low is developing over the Louisiana coast:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/s1/pmsl.html

This low should move to a point near Mobile later tonight, and into Georgia tomorrow.

*This storm will bring heavy snow, and in some cases, blizzard conditions to major northeast cities like Washington, New York City, and Baltimore over the weekend. Amounts over one foot are very possible... much like our Blizzard of 1993.

Watch our live stream at 8:00 for more...

This brief email from a good friend at Clarksville, Tenn., just before 5 pm. Clarksville is in Montgomery County, Tenn., northwest of nashville:

I have never seen the ground turn white as fast as it did about 2 hours ago....It is pouring snow and it started sticking with the first flake. The roads that were pre-salted look fine, but the secondary roads and my sidewalks/driveway are icy. The first hour was probably 50/50 ice/snow. We will be fine as long as we don't lose power. Pot of chili is on and logs are blazing in the fireplace. We are ready! (except for Rosie, she doesn't like getting her feet wet to go potty).

Rain is steadily spreading into Alabama from the west. At 4:45, radar indicated rain over much of the west half of Alabama. A lot of it was not reaching the ground but it will soon.

Sprinkles have just reached Trussville.

Precipitation is much more extensive in areas west and NW of Alabama...across Mississippi, Louisiana and West Tennessee, for example.

SPOT REPORTS
43 and moderate rain at Greenwood, Miss.
40 and moderate rain at Greenville, Miss.
48 and heavy rain in Jackson
51 and moderate rain in Meridian
48 and heavy rain in Vicksburg
46 and drizzle in Columbus, Miss.
33 with moderate snow at Jackson, Tenn., visibility 1/4 mile
33 with moderate snow in Memphis, visibility 1/4 mile

We will be doing a live 30 minute special tonight at 8:00 p.m. on our live stream on abc3340.com, along with our dinigal channels 33.2 and 40.2. The specia will address the winter weather threat and the cold blast for the weekend....

The NWS in Birmingham has issued a "snow advisory" for the following counties in their CWA (county warning area):

MARION, LAMAR, WINSTON, FAYETTE, WALKER, BLOUNT, ETOWAH AND CHEROKEE...FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM.

Some light accumulation is possible in these counties late tonight as the rain begins to change to snow. The greatest accumulation will remain to the north, over the Tennessee Valley of far North Alabama.

Memphis is now reporting heavy snow... and a heavy snow warning is in effect for the Memphis metro area and northwest Mississippi, where 3 to 5 inches is likely.

More to follow...