Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Historic Christmas Blizzard and Winter Storm


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I was born and raised here in Little Rock and I have never seen a blizzard warning for any county in the Channel 7 viewing area.  Today could turn out to be life threatening and historic at the same time.  The combination of heavy snow and high winds will reduce visibilities to a quarter mile or less late today.  We can also expect many power outages so please prepare for that.  The Blizzard warning includes all of White county northeastward and I'll post the map below.

Most of the state, including central Arkansas is under a winter storm warning including the metro.  Snowfall amounts have the possibility of exceeding 5'' in spots.

I still expect morning rain and sleet to give away to mid to late afternoon snow.  The snow will really become intense tonight across much of the state.  Again, I urge everyone especially in the "Blizzard Warning" area not to get out later today.  This can be life threatening if you're caught out in in.  Prepare for power outages.

Here's the watch/warning map from the NWS as of 6 AM.  Orange is the blizzard warning and pink is the winter storm warning.  Purple is a winter weather advisory.
The overnight run of the NAM goes crazy with snowfall amounts from Little Rock northeastward.  The legend is at the bottom of the picture.
And the 00Z GFS shows heavy snow amounts through western AR into central areas into the northeast.
In summary, the snowfall POTENTIAL in central Arkansas is for several inches of snow to start late today.  We COULD see 5'' or more in areas with high winds causing many power outages.  
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Truly is a Christmas miracle. Jonesboro is so lucky! I wonder if Jonesboro usually gets more snow than central AR, especially since its closer to the NE winds.

Anonymous said...

How long do you guess snow will remain on the ground? We're in White Co.

Anonymous said...

I hate that I'm in Dallas now and come back to Bryant tomorrow afternoon/evening! I would've liked seeing the heavy snow falling tonight. Just my luck, missing out on this historic storm. I even thought about staying home for the possibility of snow.

Anonymous said...

Oh, what a CHRITmas MIRACLE here in Mayflower,Ar. We moved here four years ago, from Williamsburg, Virginia. This what we would get back there more often than you all. But, to have snow on CHRISTmas is such a Blessing! I just love it!
We have electric still on here! Thank GOD!
Thanks so much for being there for us! We appreciate all you do!
Go Slow!!!

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