An area of snow flurries was advancing SE quickly late tonight.

Large snowflakes were reported at Guin and Carbon Hill in NW Alabama.

The flurries were moving across Walker County into NW Jefferson and will be moving across the Birmingham Metro Area soon.

This snow situation is not nearly as widespread as Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.

New York City’s greatest snowstorms all have a story...

5. February 16-17, 2003—Three years ago this week, The President’s Day Blizzard dumped a total of 19.8 inches of snow on the Big Apple. Mayor Michael Bloomberg complained that the snowstorm would cost one million dollars per inch to remove.

4. January 7-8, 1996—New York City kids got their first day off from school in eighteen years as the Blizzard of 96 dumped a total of 20.2 inches on Central Park. New Yorkers took the storm in stride, getting around on cross-country skis.

3. March 12-14, 1888: The White Hurricane. It rained all day in New York City on Sunday, March 11. The forecast called for clearing and colder weather. Overnight, the rain changed to snow and a blizzard began to blow. Winds of up to 80 mph combined with 20.9 inches of snow in a deadly combination. The winds whipped the snow into twenty foot drifts, that covered the second floor of some buildings. Two hundred people died in New York City.

2. December 26-27, 1947—Snow began early on the morning of Friday, December 26th. It soon was falling at the rate of three inches per hour. When all was said and done on the morning of the 27th, New York City lay under a mantle of 26.4 inches of snow. The record stood until yesterday. The Snow of 1947 is notable because it was accompanied by no wind and relatively mild temperatures, so it was not a killer storm.

1. The New Number One: February 11-12, 2006—The Blizzard of 2006 started on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. At the height of the snowstorm on Sunday morning, snow was falling on Central Park at the rate of three inches per hour. When it was all said and done, a grand total of 26,9 inches had fallen there. It was enough to make it the greatest single snowstorm in the history of the Big Apple. Thunder snow was reported in New Jersey, with lightning followed by booming thunder. The powerful nor’easter responsible for the snows actually developed an eye as it passed off the New Jersey coast.

...but the Columbus MS radar is beginning to light up like a Christmas tree with light snow over Northwest Alabama.

Light snow was expanding overparts of Lawrence, Franklin, Marion and Winston Counties. The activity was mving east and southeast. This activity could brush the Birmingham Metro area later.

Areas in the path of these snow showers could receive a light dusting.

We remind everyone to be careful when driving in areas where snow covers the road or where roads might ice from earlier snow that melted. Check road conditions before traveling late tonight or early Monday morning over North Alabama.

An upper level disturbance is moving across Alabama tonight. It is producing snow flurries over sections of the state.

Light flurries were moving across northern Jefferson County at 8:35 p.m.

In addition to the snow flurries, a large area of widespread light to moderate snow had developed over East Alabama. The activity was intensifying as it moves into Georgia, I would not be surprised to see reports of some accumulation from Gadsden down through Anniston to Ashland and near Lafayette in Chambers County.

The NWS Huntsville reports that I-59 near Fort Payne was covered with a dusting of snow.

Areas that receive snow tonight will be vulnerable to melting and refreezing of the snow overnight into black ice. Black ice makes driving very hazardous as you cannot see it before you are on it. Be careful if you are traveling in the areas that receive accumulation tonight and Monday morning.

Temperatures will drop into the middle 20s tonight in most locations with a few normally colder locations reaching the lower 20s.

An interesting note from the NWS Huntsville. There was an actual lake effect snow effect off Lake Wheeler in the Tennessee Valley today. Cold air flowing across the relatively warm waters of the lake picked up moisture and made for lake effect snow downwind of the lake.

They say that records are made to be broken.

Well, in New York City, a huge record was broken today and a new one established.

By 4:10 this afternoon, the current snowstorm had dumped 27 inches (26.9 to be exact) of snow on the Big Apple.

This is a new record for all time.

The previous record had stood since December 26-27, 1947, when they got 26.4 inches.

Thanks to Jeff Wyatt of our IT staff at ABC 33/40 for these pictures from Trussville. What a beautiful winter scene in Alabama.

These were taken late yesterday in Blount County on top of Hogg Mountain at Nectar. The accumulation was about 1/2 inch:

Going to have to opt out of the video again this morning and substitute just the Blog discussion. My cold is holding tough and the voice is very weak, so it would be torture for you to have to listen to me squeak through a video version. But the cold is showing some improving signs as the sore throat is considerably reduced this morning.

My station in Helena and the Birmingham airport had a common low this morning - 30 degrees. Snow showers developed yesterday afternoon giving some spots a nice dusting of snow - unfortunately none at my house. The radar yesterday afternoon looked a lot like a summer afternoon with scattered showers along and north of Birmingham primarily. And it looks like we might see a repeat of those snow showers this afternoon and evening as another short wave impulse rides down the west side of the deep eastern US trough. Moisture appears to be somewhat lacking, so I don't expect a big event.

Monday the east coast trough moves out into the Atlantic as surface high pressure settles into south Texas. Our thicknesses begin to moderate a bid but Monday is still going to be cold with highs still in the 40s.

Full scale moderation gets underway on Tuesday with the surface high tracking eastward across the Gulf while the 500 millibar pattern goes zonal across the southern states. Afternoon highs should be back close to typical values this time of year - mid and upper 50s.

Moisture returns Wednesday with the surface high off to our east. Zonal flow remains in place at 500 millibars as a high amplitude ridge/trough develop on the west coast of the US. Clouds with some small chance of showers can be expected Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures pushing the lower 60s.

Rain chances increase late Thursday and Friday as a fast moving short wave passes to our north dragging a cold front into central Alabama. This does not look like a particularly cold weather change but enough to drop us back below normal. Showers remain a good possibility on Saturday with the front stalled across the area. Clouds and good rain chances will keep temperatures cool.

The 06Z GFS model run keeps a trough on the west coast through the end of the month with a weak ridge and a near zonal flow across the southeastern US. If that pattern is true, we should stay mild and somewhat wet with frontal zones stalled across the area. Not sure I believe the longer range GFS right now since we've been in such a progressive pattern, so we'll just have to see how it plays out.

Stay warm today. Drink lots of water. And wash your hands a lot so you don't big up any nasty cold germs!!

-Brian-

The entire region has a heavy blanket of snow this morning, including Gatlinburg.

And, they will be getting more snow today.

Check out these amounts this morning:

7 inches at Gatlinburg (at national park headquarters)
9 inches in Cades Cove
15 inches at Oconaluftee
32 inches atop 6400 foot Mt. LeConte

Can you imagine the beautiful scene in Cades Cove this morning with a 9 inch fresh snow cover? It is my favorite part of the park.

What an amazing blizzard moving up the east coast this morning. Check out the surface chart:



Looks like this thing is trying to form an eye... see the visible satellite image below. Do we need to give it a name?



Getting ready to head out to church... I will have my usual discussion here early tomorrow (Monday) morning by 6:00 a.m. or so. A quick glace at everything this morning suggests a warm-up later this week; a soaking rain over the coming weekend, and a very real chance of cold air drifting in here in about 7 to 8 days from now, with a wavy Arctic front in the northern Gulf of Mexico. I still think we have several very interesting days ahead this month in the weather office!