SNOW: SAT AM

NOTE FROM CHRIS MARTIN:  Larry is working down here and moving up road.  Snow on the road is really not that heavy.  It's 32 degrees at 12pm.

Pics from earlier today. at 12:25p I'm at 26 degrees and climbing slooooowly.  All over but the shoutin'...

(This 8am pic just sent in from Christ Martin near ACA entrance....4" snow, no traffic on Apple Creek, and no report from him per Mauney Cove conditions)

(from Al Rose @ 9:15am close to the top...clearly heavier snowfall at the top of ACA than down below, by over 2 to 1)

This morning's show should start tapering off later this morning, so by noon we should be done with anything but light snows, blustery winds, and whipping snows from that which has already fallen.  Per yesterday's note from John/Claire, Larry will begin plowing and salting this morning, but given the heavy snow, certainly above 3500', we all need patience as it will take longer to get everything done.  Just in time for.....

OUR NEXT SNOW STORM

The timeframe of this next system for ACA is an onset well before sunrise Monday, lasting through midnight Monday with lighter activity through the day Tuesday.  Estimated snow amounts for ACA run as follows at this time:

NAM: 6-10"

GFS:  8-12"

The GFS did better with this storm's higher amounts for us, predicting 8-10".  There is one sticky wicket that is disconcerting, and that is how thick the subfreezing air is at the surface.  There is a chance for a warm mid-layer to be in place that, even with the thermometer at 27 degrees, could be producing heavy sleet for a while on Monday, which nobody wants to happen.  Just throwing that out there for now.

This next storm has most models painting a heavy snow forecast somewhere around the Atlanta-Athens-Greenville-Augusta-I-20 corridor areas...maybe a foot or more.  The NAM has backed off the 18" type snows I'd mentioned earlier for the SE Blue Ridge, but the amounts are still in the 8-12 range for many locations.  It will continue to be a very tricky system as any track/path change of the driving low can make the difference in an area getting skunked, and one getting 16" of snow.  Stay tuned.

bob