Light snow tonight not a big deal, except for the timing

The snow is still on the way but this is going to be a very light snowfall. I’m actually trending down with my snowfall forecast for the Charlotte area. I see about .5-1” of snow at most for the area. The model trends have also gone down with the amount of snow. Here’s the latest Futurecast for the storm through tomorrow afternoon. This paints 0-1” over Charlotte and points east & south, not very impressive at all.

Even though the storm looks really strong right now it appears the storm will be weakening when it moves over the Carolinas. This will be due to the shift in energy, lift and moisture to the coast. Then the coastal storm will take over. That’s why there may be a heavier burst out towards the coast of North Carolina. This is where a winter storm warning is currently in place.

This storm has a long history of producing heavy snow over the middle of the country and the amounts have been very impressive so far. There have been isolated amounts of 12” over Oklahoma and even more in Kansas.

The small issue that may make this a bit tricky in the morning will be the timing. the ground temps are still pretty cold and the overnight lows I except to be down around 29° tomorrow morning. That combination of a cold ground and cold air combined with the morning commute could make roads slick for a few hours early Thursday morning.

Summary:

Not expecting a big deal or a major snow here, just remember it’s suppose to snow in the winter time in Charlotte we ado average 5.7” of snow per winter after all. So this little bit of snow is pretty normal. Just the same take it easy in the morning because roads will be slippery until around 10am when temperatures warm-up above 32°. Then look forward to warmer air this weekend that just might be the beginning of an early start to Spring. Though if history is any indication we’re sure to have one more blast of winter before it’s all said and done.