I kinda disagree. Southern slider is a “safer option” but if trends from this run continue this is how we’d get our “big dog”. This was more about track than airmass issues. I mean even with this track it locks RDU below freezing for the event. I guess to your point, 18z is the go big or go home option, but there are a lot of pieces to like about the phase and negative tilt, along with HP placement and cold being established before the storm without screaming southerlies at 850 like we’d seen the last few days.
18z also shows a lot of potential following the storm this weekend. The ridge placement out west looks a lot better for the next system and it delivers cold through the run. While I know it’s likely way overestimated, this doesn’t look like a cutter pattern. One run, I know