Southern Snowstorm Thursday, Thursday Night

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 16,2013; 9:08PM,EST

The caboose in a train of storms affecting the South will trend colder and deliver wintry precipitation farther east than its predecessors, including heavy snow for the mountains and some major population centers. Snow will reach part of the coastal mid-Atlantic as well.
The storm has the potential to down trees and power lines as well as make for difficult travel.
Part of the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys has been hit with two ice storms in as many days.
The third and final storm in the series will bring a change from rain to snow from west to east over part of the interior South beginning tonight west of the Appalachians, Thursday in the southern Appalachians and a mix of rain and snow to some areas east of the mountains Thursday night.

A wintry mix, including more ice, will occur Wednesday over part of the lower Mississippi Valley and gradually shift eastward Thursday from northern Louisiana, northern Mississippi and middle Tennessee and central Kentucky.

Rain will change to snow and push out of the mountains Thursday into Thursday night.

There is the potential for a heavy amount of snow, in excess of half a foot in the southern Appalachians later Thursday into Thursday night. With such a dynamic storm system, there could be thunder with the snow in some locations.

Heavy snow will fall in the Great Smoky Mountains and other areas in the South before the storm departs the mid-Atlantic coast late in the week. (Photos.com image)

Snow will fall and accumulate in northern Georgia at an elevation above 2,500 feet. Some wet snow can mix in several hundred feet below this level.
According to Meteorologist Mark Mancuso, "Some wet snow can mix in around Birmingham, Atlanta Virginia Beach and Elizabeth City, N.C."
As you head north the snow will become more extensive, lower in elevation and will reach east of the Appalachians. The mountains of North Carolina to southwestern Virginia could be on the receiving end of a foot of snow or more.

In Virginia, a swath of heavy snow may extend northeastward from the mountains to part of the Tidewater. Several inches of snow are possible for a large part of the Delmarva Peninsula and part of southern New Jersey.

Moderate snow could reach as far north as the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas. These cities will be on the northern edge of the accumulating snow.

"Cities that have the potential to receive several inches of snow include Knoxville and Bristol, Tenn., Asheville and Winston-Salem, N.C., Roanoke and Richmond, Va.," Mancuso added.
Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, N.C. could receive an inch or so of snow.
Due to the recent warm weather, much of the snow will melt on roadways. However, where the snow comes down hard, over the bridges and overpasses and over the higher elevations, slippery travel is likely.
More details and maps on the southern snowstorm will be released by AccuWeather.com as they become available.
Prior to the snow or a wintry mix, additional heavy rain and incidents of flooding will continue to be centered over the southern Appalachians, but will reach westward and eastward to the foothills and beyond.