Winter Storm Update – 1/4/18
Winter storm watch and warnings have been issue for most of ENC. Low pressure is forecast to form north of The Bahamas and track northward off the southeast coast. During this time the low will rapidly strengthen by mid to late Wednesday. As it tracks northward, precipitation ahead of the low will begin to spread over the area by Wednesday afternoon and into the evening hours.
Precipitation will likely be liquid across the area though with very cold surface temperatures, any rain that falls will freeze on contact. Road conditions will deteriorate during this time making travel difficult. Rain/Ice will transition to all snow for inland areas during the late afternoon/evening hours. The transition line will progress eastward through the night eventually making it to the coast by early morning Thursday.
Precipitation forecast could vary depending on the track and strength of the low. As things stand right now most areas inland will see some snow accumulation as well as places along the coast. While it is difficult to know exactly how far inland the heaviest precipitation will occur but for now it appears that the heaviest snow accumulations will be along highway 17.
As for my forecast, I went on the conservative side until I see how the low develops over the next few hours. This forecast could change between now and the onset of precipitation so this isn’t written in stone quite yet. Since I will be occupied for the majority of the day this will most likely be my last update regarding this system. Tomorrow night I will be online and may post a few thoughts throughout.
Update: I am still sticking with my previous forecast accumulations above.
Update: As of 4:00PM, I see no need to change my forecast at this time.