Widespread Southern Snowfall Expect Thursday Through Saturday

The bread ‘n’ milk meter is spiking this week as a decent winter storm looks to bring a widespread blanket of snowfall from northern Texas to the Mid-Atlantic. 

We’ll see the system develop over Texas early on Thursday, spreading east through Friday and Saturday. 

Some areas could see 6-8 inches of snow from the system. A crust of ice is possible across a large swath of the region, as well. The wintry weather will cause major airline delays and highway travel trouble into the beginning of the weekend.

A low-pressure system developing over Texas early Thursday will have plenty of cold air to work with as it gets its act together. The combination of cold air from the north and moisture streaming in from the Gulf of MEXICO (🙃) will produce widespread winter weather to end the week.

The National Weather Service has already issued an array of winter weather alerts across the affected regions. Expect winter storm watches to spread east into the Carolinas and Virginia over the coming hours.

Instead of focusing all its efforts on a small swath, we’re instead going to see this low-pressure system spread its snowfall over a very wide area. 2-4 inches of snow is a good bet from the Red River to the Ohio Valley, and east toward the Delmarva Peninsula.

A band of 4-6 inches of snow is likely from central Arkansas east across much of Tennessee and northern Alabama, including Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Huntsville. Localized totals of 6-8 inches are possible, especially in central Arkansas and at higher elevations like Chattanooga. 

Sleet may mix in and cut down on snowfall accumulations on the southern end of the system..

Freezing rain is the predominant concern from central Texas through eastern North Carolina, including the Atlanta and Charlotte metro areas, where up to one-quarter of an inch of ice is possible. Very slick roads are likely in the affected areas, along with the potential for falling tree limbs and power outages. 

Any snow in the south is a big deal—many communities lack the driving skills and physical equipment to handle winter road conditions—but especially so because we haven’t really seen much snow south of the Mason-Dixon line in recent winters.

Huntsville, Alabama, hasn’t seen more than 3 inches of snow in one storm in nearly ten years. It’s been three years since the last time we’ve had more than an inch of snow in the N.C. cities of Greensboro, Raleigh, and Charlotte. The last time Atlanta saw more than an inch of snow was in January 2018. 

Temperatures will remain chilly behind the system, allowing some of the snow and ice to stick around longer than it usually does after a southern winter storm.

(NOTE: The maps in this article were updated at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.)

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