WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

ACA is under a Winter Weather Advisory from 12am tonight through 7am Friday (31 hours).  The advisory is for 2-4", and per the National Weather Service they are calling 1-2" in the valleys (storm total, not what necessarily will be on the ground Thursday morning).  It will be a wet snow and should be icy on road surfaces once the temps drop and hang below freezing a while.

Onset is tonight closer to midnight for the steadier snow, with intermittent snow showers Thursday and another 'likely' round toward supper. Rain may mix in early, and then again on Thursday, but there is very cold air aloft to support snow.  Temperatures may go above freezing Thursday, especially lower elevations, but windy conditions will have it feeling much colder and secondary roads are expected to stay dicey.  Friday afternoon the ever-increasingly higher sun angle will help us out a little, but highs will still be below average in the lower 40s, if you're lucky. Windy conditions will continue through this period, as well, which could help limit accumulations some.

NAM continues to stick with 2-4" in a most steady fashion, with the GFS now bumping up to 2" for ACA.  Not a dumping, but a solid road 'nuisance' for those of us that have to travel.  This will be a "NW flow" event, and those can be like 'duck, duck, GOOSE' and out of nowhere lay down 1/2" quickly.  2-4" up high and the 1-2" down low seems reasonable here.

This is not to discount today's blustery weather with a High Wind Warning until 1pm for elevations above 3500'...however, ACA is protected by the ridge behind/south of us with our N/NE exposure.  As I type I can hear it howling up there, but I have little wind at the house.  Gusty winds will continue all day today, and even through a lot of Thursday.  Trees can more easily come down with the super-saturated soils, so heads up traveling.

The one good thing about later season storms like this is they don't hang around too long.  After a still-chilly Saturday, we'll warm back to the 50s in a few days as we get ready to usher in March.  Now, will it be 'lion' or 'lamb'.....


Bob