Possible Snow For Monday?

The buzz around the south right now is who will get snow on Monday and who will just get a cold rain? Right now, that's a tough one to answer. As is usual with winter storms in the south, this one will all depend upon timing of the cold air and positioning of the moisture. The perfect scenario for a good southern snow storm would be for the cold air to move in and already be in place before the moisture hits. But this is not appearing to set up that way, at least not here in Alabama. Going by the model analysis at the moment, it appears temps will be just at or above 40 degrees in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, as the moisture begins to move into the state. As the morning progresses, and the low pressure center pushes northeastward over the the Gulf of Mexico, the counterclockwise winds around the low pressure center will pull cold continental air down into the southern states. This cold air will be moving in from the general direction of Northwest to Southeast.

Going by the models as of now, by 6am on Monday the freezing line should be along a line from Pine Bluff, AR to Tupelo, MS to just east of Nashville, TN. So it appears that areas of southern Arkansas and northern Mississippi may receive an all snow event. While limited moisture will be around in the middle Tennessee area, but they could still see a few snow flurries. By the 9-10am time frame, we expect the changeover to begin in the Shoals area of Alabama. Then by around the noon hour, places like Decatur and Huntsville should begin to change over to snow. Birmingham should change over some time around the 2-3pm time frame. Followed by Gadsden and Anniston around 3-4pm. By the time this wraps up, even places as far south as Alexander City, or even Montgomery could wind up seeing at least a few flurries. But for the most part, the further south you go, the less chance you'll have of seeing appreciable snowfall.

After the system moves out and away from the south, it will likely ride up the east coast and become a major snow storm for some parts of the eastern seaboard. It's simply too early to tell right now who will get what, but i'm wagering that somewhere between the Appalachians and the Atlantic Ocean, there will be a big time snowfall.