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Storm Impacting the Northwest U.S.; Fire Weather Conditions in Southern California; Severe Weather in the South

A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >

Overview

An area of low pressure tracked across the Cumberland Valley spreading Gulf of Mexico moisture northward over a very cold air mass the night of Wednesday December 15th and the morning of Thursday December 16th, 2010. This resulted in a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet, and snow falling across eastern Kentucky, with significant accumulations of ice and snow for many areas.

The precipitation began west of I-75 early in the evening on Wednesday December 15th as freezing rain, with a little snow and sleet mixed in. As the precipitation advanced northeastward during the evening, it fell largely as snow. Warmer air progressing northward above the surface brought a changeover to freezing rain from south to north overnight, with the changeover occurring all the way to the Mountain Parkway by dawn on Thursday. The precipitation fell largely as snow for the entire event north of the Mountain Parkway.

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Nearly 1/3 of an inch of ice accumulated on top of over 1 inch of snow at NWS Jackson.
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