The release from NOAA below indicates this weekend's big blizzard was a category three on the new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS). It was the biggest snow in the history of New York City... you have to wonder what a "five" looks like!

Here is the NOAA release:

The weekend snowstorm that struck the eastern seaboard and brought airlines and roadways to a standstill in some of the nation's biggest cities was classified as "Major" or a Category 3 storm on the new Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, or NESIS, scale, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C.

This is a preliminary classification based on the snowfall observations available at this time. NESIS, which NOAA made operational this winter, ranked this Northeast storm as having the 20th biggest impact out of a sample of 32 storms that have occurred between 1956 and 2006.

NESIS ranks the severity of an East Coast snowstorm based on snowfall amount and the population of the affected areas. NESIS allows scientists to quickly assess a snowstorm's potential impact, compare it with a storm of the past and assign it one of five categories:

Notable, Significant, Major, Crippling or Extreme.

Near-blizzard conditions prevailed in the Northeast over the weekend, with winds gusting more than 50 mph along the coastal areas. The strong winds produced snow drifts more than four feet high and made snow measurements difficult. Review and quality control of the reported snowfall amounts are required before these reports are officially accepted as new snowfall records, NCDC officials said.

According to preliminary reports, new single-storm and 24-hour snowfall records were established in some locations. In New York City's Central Park, where record-keeping began in 1869, 26.9 inches of snow fell between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, breaking the previous storm total record of 26.4 inches set during a December 26-27, 1947 storm. In Hartford, Conn., a total of 21.9 inches broke the old storm total record of 21 inches set in 1983. These high amounts tend to occur in isolated locations or within narrow bands, and were surrounded by reports of 10 to 20 inches.

More than six inches of snow fell across a large region from the Appalachians of North Carolina to the most heavily populated areas of the Northeast. Reports of more than 12 inches were widespread across the region, and the highest snowfall amounts fell from New York City to Connecticut. Other snow storms of the recent past, such as the 1993 Storm of the Century (NESIS Category 5) and the January Blizzard of 1996 covered areas throughout the eastern U.S., while also bringing heavy snowfall to interior regions. However, the development and movement of this storm off the Atlantic coast produced the highest storm totals along the coastal corridor, while missing areas from western Pennsylvania to northern New England.

NESIS was jointly developed by Paul J. Kocin, a winter storm expert at The Weather Channel and Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Md. Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C., led the effort to compute NESIS starting with this season's snowstorms.

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction: http://www.ncep.noaa.gov National Climatic Data Center: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov

The Tuesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

While the short term forecast will highlight a nice warming trend, our attention is focused on the weekend, with some potential ice problems on the table.

MID-WEEK: Warmer, lots of clouds, and maybe a little drizzle in spots tomorrow. Good chance we see low 60s tomorrow. Then, we will be even warmer on Thursday. Some spots might even approach 70 degrees, and only a small risk of a shower.

While we warm-up, brutally cold air moves down into the northern U.S. Many spots in North Dakota and Montana will not reach 0 degrees on Thursday as a whopper 1056 mb high builds over the western part of Canada.

FRIDAY: The leading edge of the Arctic air moves into the Tennessee Valley late in the day, and a few showers are likely.

WEEKEND: The weekend looks cold, wet, and potentially icy for the northern half of the state. Looks like we stay in the 30s all day Saturday, while Mobile might reach 75. As discussed many times here in recent days, the cold air will be very shallow, only a few thousand feet deep. This means freezing rain could be a problem, and that, of course, can lead to ice accumulation on exposed objects and some big time headaches.

Here is the way we see it now:

Significant icing will be possible over extreme North Alabama and Tennessee during the day Saturday, continuing Saturday night and Sunday morning. Places like Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, and Nashville could see enough ice to create travel problems on bridges, and just maybe enough ice load for power outages. Ice issues might even begin Friday night. If you are traveling to the north be aware of this potential.

For the I-20 corridor, including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Anniston, we expect a cold rain on Saturday with temperatures in the mid 30s. But, some light icing is possible Saturday night and Sunday morning. At the moment it does not look like enough ice for power problems, but bridge icing might lead to travel difficulties from about 6:00 p.m. Saturday through 10:00 a.m. Sunday.

Needless to say, this is a very early first call and that will probably have to be changed a bit as we get closer to the weekend.

Temperatures should rise above freezing statewide by Sunday afternoon. Monday should be warmer with more rain, and maybe even a thunderstorm or two.

Colder and drier air should then arrive by Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

LONG RANGE: Still looking much warmer as March begins in a couple of weeks. Our thoughts will be turning to spring. But remember, that also marks the beginning of the spring tornado season in Alabama.

THANKS: The kids at Thorsby Elementary were great today; I saw the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Look for them on the KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News today at 5:00!

STORM ALERT 2006: Don't forget we are coming to Talladega this Thursday night; the show begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Ritz Theatre downtown on the square. Come early for a t-shirt and a good seat!

The next video will be on the server by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow...

* 2 is how many 30-minute WeatherBrains broadcasts we have done so far

* 3 is coming up tonight for taping. It will be available late tonight or early Wednesday

* 6 is how many inches of snow was still on the ground in Gatlinburg this morning

* 36 is how many inches still atop Mt. Leconte with a low this morning of 4 above

* 15 is how many inches of snow Beech Mountain, North Carolina reports this morning

* 13 inches still blankets Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina with a low this morning of 5

* 52 is the projected high for New York City tomorrow. Surely that will bring dancing in the streets after their record blizzard

* 1 is how many cups of coffee I've had this morning. A record low for this late in the day

* 7 is how many cars I met on US-11 east of Deerfoot Parkway in a two-block stretch a few minutes ago

* 4 is how many of those 7 drivers were talking on their cell phones. Come on folks!

* 90 was the high in Chatsworth, California yesterday (that is summer heat folks)

* 20 below was the cold spot in the lower 48 this morning at Doyleville, Colorado

* 1.6 is how many inches of snow in Flagstaff, Arizona this winter (that's less than 2 inches)

* 60 inches represents their shortfall in snow this winter (absolutely amazing)

* 103 is how many inches of snow Flagstaff had received last year at this time

* 44 is how many weeks I have been donutless (I rarely think of them any more until I see them)

* 1 is how many ball games I have had with Little Miss Molly this morning

* 6 is how many games she expected by this time

Woe is me...life goes on!

With clear weather and light winds, the ole thermometer dropped below freezing in almost every nook and crossroads in Alabama this morning. A sampling:

16 in Hamilton
20 in Wedowee and Black Creek (It was already down to 23 in BC by 9 pm)
21 at Fort Payne Airport, Centreville, Livingston, Talladega, Heflin, Dearmanville, Gaylesville
22 at Jasper, Ashville, Wadley
23 at Alabaster, Pinson, Addison
24 in Crossville, Anniston, Alexander City, Clanton
25 in Huntsville, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa
26 in Selma, Vinemont
27 at Shelby County Airport (NWS Office)
28 in Decatur and at Birmingham Airport
30 in DeSoto State Park
31 in Mobile

The Tuesday morning map discussion video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Happy Valentines Day to you.

While we will enjoy a big warm-up here during the mid-week period, we are watching the coldest air so far this season building up north, and that will be coming south to cover much of the nation by the weekend.

We should enjoy upper 50s today, low 60s tomorrow, and mid 60s on Thursday. The NAM MOS shows a high of 70 for Birmingham on Thursday! A little aggressive, but sure sounds good. Moisture will be increasing, so there should be plenty of clouds around tomorrow and Thursday.

FRIDAY: Most communities up in North Dakota will have a hard time reaching 0 degrees Friday afternoon. We are talking brutally cold air. The leading edge of that air will be moving through Tennessee, and we should have a few showers around here on Friday. Then, the front drifts down into Central Alabama late Friday night and early Saturday morning. We think the front will stop somewhere around U.S. 80 (the surface front).

WEEKEND ICE ISSUES: There should be an amazing temperature contrast around the state Saturday. The high in Huntsville might be 35, while Mobile could reach 75. For now I have a high in Birmingham of 39 degrees. This is assuming the front at the surface is indeed to the south, of course.

I still think the cold air will only be 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep Saturday, meaning you won't see it using the 850 mb chart (5,000 feet). The 1000-500 mb thickness values also won't really reflect this cold air. And, of course, this shallow cold air means no snow, but the risk of ice where surface temperatures are below freezing (freezing rain).

Still looks like the best chance of freezing rain and ice problems will be over the far northern part of the state and into Tennessee Saturday and Saturday night. I think the GFS is not handling the QPF potential very well; remember how lousy that model was last week... it didn't understand the weekend storm until about 48 hours before the event.

I think there is potential for significant ice accumulation on bridges and exposed surfaces for the Tennessee Valley of extreme North Alabama and Tennessee. Thankfully, the ground will be fairly warm due to the mid-week mild spell. But just keep in mind if you are traveling north this weekend, road conditions could be icy.

We might even have some ice problems as far south as I-20 Saturday night as the cold air seeps southward.

The GFS wants to dry us out Sunday, but I think the weather will be cloudy and cold with some drizzle possible.

NEXT WEEK: Our Arctic front drifts northward Monday with another round of rain (no ice this time). But, it comes back to the south and we might get another shot of colder air by mid-week. Generally speaking, the week looks pretty wet with that front waffling back and forth around here.

LONG RANGE: Well well... the GFS is building a warm ridge over the Southeast U.S. at the first of March. If this happens to be correct, that will bring the warmest weather so far this year right as meteorological spring begins. Spring fever will be breaking out big time IF that is correct. Not totally convinced the ridge wins yet, but we will see.

STORM ALERT 2006: We will be in Talladega this Thursday night at 7:00... our annual severe weather awareness tour will be at the Ritz Theatre on the square in downtown Talladega. Get there early to get a good seat; we have free t-shirts for the first 500 people who come!

TODAY: Will be down in Chilton County today to speak to the kids at Thorsby Elementary School... I should be back in time to have the afternoon video posted on time by 3:30!