Saturday, January 8, 2011

We might "escape" with heavy snow

Many people might look at the forecast of 4 to 6 inches of snow Monday in Charlotte as a big problem, and it will be.

But we might be getting off easy from the storm system expected to move across the South on Sunday and Monday.

A corridor farther to our south stands to get hammered by an ice storm that could knock out power to tens of thousands of customers. That area will stretch from northern Louisiana, across central Mississippi, central and southern Alabama, and southern Georgia.

Heavy snow could fall from northern Mississippi, across northern Alabama, northern Georgia and the western Carolinas.

We'll watch the development of this storm over the next few days, but it looks now (Saturday morning) as if the cities that could get the worst of the freezing rain and power outages would include Shreveport, La.; Jackson, Miss.; Montgomery, Ala.; Macon, Ga.; and possibly Columbia. Other big cities in the South -- Birmingham, Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh -- are more in the zone of heavy snow, rather than ice.

All this can change. Stay tuned.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Many people might look at the forecast of 4 to 6 inches of snow Monday in Charlotte as a big problem, and it will be."

Sure, it could be a problem, but it wouldn't be if people would use a little common sense.

They won't, of course. Commuters will pretend the pavement is dry. They'll drive 60 mph down I-77 and I-485, and be talking and texting on their mobile devices like always. They'll still believe they can stop on a dime and drive as they usually do, even though they won't even be able to see the edges of the road.

Same old story. I predict 200 wrecks in Charlotte and on area roads by Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

200 wrecks and jersey tags.

Unknown said...

I am ready for snow - let's have it about a foot...

Anonymous said...

Why Jersey tags? We can drive in snow you know! It doesn't matter where you are, there are people who can't do it.

Anonymous said...

HAHA. "All this could change." "Stay tuned." Typical weatherman's response.You could be talking about the economy,or gas prices,or if a mother will give birth today or tomorrow.Why even mention the weather or that it might snow until it actually is snowing!! Stay tuned has to be the dumbest comment i have heard from a weatherman.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco said...

Anon 12:53 - You're a nitwit. You do realize that meteorology is an inexact science, right? You see, what they do is *forecast* what the weather will be like in a certain amount of time.

Don't know what "forecast" means? Well, I'll spell it out for you - it's a *prediction*. What's a prediction? Well, that's an educated guess.

When making an educated guess (I'll use the lowest common denominator for you), one will use models of past behavior to determine what will happen in a few days' time. Something unexpected can always happen, hence the Weather Guy's disclaimer. If he didn't put it on there, some knuckledragger like yourself would cry foul and say, "but, but, but, YOU said it was gonna snow!!!"

So, why mention the weather? Well, it got a genius like you who apparently knows better than to accept a forecast to click on the blog. I think it's predicted to give the populace an idea of what to expect might happen. I, for one, am grateful for their work in this field, even if they aren't right in their educated guesses (still looking out for you, slick) 100% of the time.

Anonymous said...

HEHE..to the poster that said 200 wrecks and jersey tags...very true. Most northerners love to talk about how we dont know how to drive in snow down south and its normally NJ and NY tags going 60 in snow and then you see them in the ditch 5 mins later...idiots.

Anonymous said...

Last storm I saw OH, PA, and NY tags, all in a ditch. I used to live in Colorado where snow falls was measured in feet. I recently visited my old stomping grounds. And when snow is predicted, the people all rush out to Wal-Mart, and Safeway to stock up on the basics. People are panicked about road conditions, and all are worried about north eastern drivers visiting the area, trying to show off their winter driving skills.

Anonymous said...

Where a person is from has NOTHING to do with driving. It's the lack of salt and snow plows that makes a mess.

Put a NC native in NJ and I'd bet they'd drive just fine, same is true in the opposite.

Anonymous said...

4-6 inches is cool. Even 8 I guess. But no more than that. I spent last Feb. in DC through Snowpocalypse, Snowmaggedon, and Snowmaggedon II and I want none of that! (One snowfall alone was 20.7 inches). Total snowfall was approaching 3 feet. That was too much!

Anonymous said...

"Put a NC native in NJ and I'd bet they'd drive just fine, same is true in the opposite."

Yeah, by Jersey standards ;)
There's a reason New Yorkers call bad drivers "Jersey drivers". Whether it's still true or not I don't know, but it used to be in New York you would take your driver's license road test on the streets of New York, whereas in New Jersey you'd take your test in a parking lot. Hence the reputation for Jersey drivers to be bad. Like I said, whether that's still true or not, I don't know.

Anonymous said...

ONLY 200 wrecks? I think it'll be 250+ wrecks by noon tomorrow, with Northern tags dominating the wreck scenes and off the roads and into the ditches and banks..

Anonymous said...

Most of ya'll will never get beyond hating those folks from the north will ya? Like my grandmammy said, "Themems from the north are just plain evil, they kilt my grandaddy before he could fire a shot". "Never forget and the South shall rise again". Yahoo!

Anonymous said...

Wes guys up nawath dont, you know, never forgets wuts we did to youse guys in dat war. Dat right, know wut I saying, youse guys?