The brief dose of winter on Tuesday morning, in the form of light snow, may have just been a prelude of things to come as the first week of March is providing some of our best chances at winter weather! A cold front is moving through the area today, putting us on the back (cold) side of it, as low pressure develops over the western Gulf and moves east-northeast through the Gulf Coast states tonight and tomorrow. The low will draw moisture up into the area that will start as rain overnight tonight with temps around 40. By tomorrow, the rain will mix with then change to snow from northwest to southeast as colder air moves in behind the departing low. This transition should take place sometime shortly after noon if computer models are correct, with the possibility of a little sleet mixing in with the rain during the late morning hours. accumulating ice is not expected.
Enough precipitation will linger into the afternoon and overnight Friday that the metro area could pick up as much as 2″ of the white stuff! Areas well to our north and west will see sleet and snow overnight and snow all day tomorrow, so northeast Arkansas could see as much as 5-8″ of snow! I think 2″ is pretty good for the Memphis heat island though. Lows will drop below freezing Friday night and Saturday’s highs will be in the mid to upper 30s, so the snow should stick around at least through the morning on Saturday before the sun melts it away.
Of course, since this storm is being “played up” in advance, it will probably bypass us and we’ll just see some flurries… stay tuned!
Be sure to visit MemphisWeather.Net for the latest on this developing winter weather scenario.
Even if it’s a light dusting, it’s the local drivers here you need to watch out for.
Roads should accumulate some snow by evening. The first inch or snow will melt on the roads, but with another couple of inches in the evening, it could get slushy. Temps should stay just above freezing until about 10pm.
will the roads on Friday eve be cold enough to hold the snow or will they just be wet or slushy?