Hickory, North Carolina
Things are going to get pretty hairy for the southeast over the next few days. Will that nastiness find it's way far enough north to be a nuisance for the fine folks of Hickory?
At 453PM, ET, Hickory was reporting a temperature of 33 degrees with clear skies. Dew points were below zero, and before clouds and precipitation can roll in, expect temperatures to begin to plummet with the sun going down. There are already some returns showing up on the Greenville radar over Georgia, and the nearest reports so far are of sleet over central Alabama. Dry air ahead of the system is doing a good job of inhibiting precipitation from falling too far east.
Snow will move into Hickory mid-morning tomorrow. With cold air in place, expect temperatures to be cool enough that Hickory may see drier snow than they typically do, which will eventually lead to some higher accumulation totals as well than they would normally see with as much liquid as they get. The snow will come through the early afternoon, until the center of low pressure moves off shore, and upper level support effectively ends by tomorrow evening. Westerly, dry flow will then be in place for Tuesday afternoon, leaving Hickory to shovel the 1-3" of snow they will get on Monday and Tuesday morning.
Tomorrow - Snow probable, tapering off late. High 28, Low 17
Tuesday - Some flurries in the morning, then clearing, High 38, Low 24
TWC: Tomorrow - Snow likely (1-3"). Cold. High 29, Low 25
Tuesday - Cloudy (snow, another 1-3" turning to a wintry mix overnight). High 34, Low 27
AW: Tomorrow - Snow, accumulating an additional 1-3 inches High 32, Low 22
Tuesday - Areas of freezing drizzle in the morning; mostly cloudy (1-3" more overnight) High 36, low 24
NWS: Tomorrow - Snow (2-4") High 30, Low 24
Tuesday - Freezing drizzle likely before 2pm, then a chance of rain or freezing rain (1-2"). High 33, Low 26
WBL Tomorrow - Snow High 30, Low 25 (2-4")
Tuesday - Cloudy. Light freezing rain and very light freezing drizzle likely in the morning...then a chance of light rain...light freezing rain and very light freezing drizzle in the afternoon (total snow 4-6") High 33, Low 27
I am definitely not bullish on the idea of 6" of snow in Hickory. It appears the bulk of the moisture will be to their south. Models, which these forecasters are following to a tee, have not handled the temperature, dew point or ceilings terribly well, and the GFS has handled the precip field better than any other model, and it keeps Hickory almost entirely dry. Still, I will honor the 1-3" forecast tomorrow, but I will not go any higher than that. Radar shows verga already showing up on the local radar.
