Good afternoon, everyone. It’s our third Winter Storm THREAT in less than two weeks, and it’s a system poised to bring a swath of heavy snow to part of the region. The impact time is late Friday night through Saturday and Saturday night.

I’ve set the stage for this potential all week long, with a MEGA temperature gradient feeding low pressure moving in from the northwest.

Here’s the risk area I put out last night on WKYT…

My current THREAT map focuses a little farther south…

In a setup like this, you have to anticipate additional trends in the models. The morning model trend was farther south, and that’s why I’m giving myself additional wiggle room on that map.

A Winter Storm Watch has already been issued across northern Kentucky, but we will need additional counties to be added to this farther south into Kentucky and all the way into West Virginia…

I mentioned the models have shifted south, all showing the heaviest snow along and south of the Ohio River…

NAM

GFS

Canadian

A few thoughts:

  • Additional model trends are very likely, with the heavy snow swath shifting a little south or north.
  • At this point in the game, a massive shift is not very likely.
  • Heavy, wet snow will be noted within the above corridor. Several inches will be possible.
  • You will also note the SUPER sharp cutoff on the southern and northern edges of the snow swath. A few miles could make all the difference in the world between a cold rain and thumping snow.
  • Outside of the narrow swath of heavy snow, heavy rain will fall. 1″-2″ of rain may cause local high water issues. Some thunder is also possible, even with the snow.

I will have updates later today, so check back. Make it a good one and take care.