Carvers Gap

And one last note, originally modeling had Jan 10-20th as being very warm and then flipped cold. Things can change. February modeling is notoriously difficult to nail down as wavelengths shorten. So, if the MJO speeds up(possible) or dodges phase 6(almost impossible at this point)...things could change. Also, if the strat split works down to the troposphere quickly(and that could happen) all bets are off. In this case, we need the strat split to wreck the warm window....and there is an outside shot that it could. For now, I think cold February forecasts in the East are probably in trouble. It is more of numerical deal as to why those would fail. The window for cold is now more like mid-Feb to mid-March - so the four week window is staggered over two months instead of being centered on Feb.

Long range update.... I am now confident that we will not dodge the warmth of the MJO warm phases. Jan22nd to roughly mid-Feb should be much above normal in terms of temps. There was some hope the NAO would hold out, but it appears that will not happen. We may get one cold shot(or two) embedded for some small windows for wintry precip. Jan30-Feb 1 would be an outside shot. So, bad news out of the way first. The current strat warm should begin to rock modeling very soon in the extended. Just watch for big red balls of fire to show-up at 500mb at higher latitudes. The strat split cold dump(if it goes into North America) should arrive right as the MJO rolls into phase 8 during mid-Feb. That means bitterly cold air could dump eastward. But beware of calls for cold prior to mid-Feb. It could happen, because the MJO could speed up a bit. I think the target for a return to cold (after this weekend) would be the end of the second week of Feb. I think the cold should last about 14-20 days at that point. I would think we would have equal(or better) chances to the timeframe we are about to exit. So, to sum up. A pattern change will quickly be under way for next week and last roughly 3 weeks beginning on Monday. That is a bit short(for a pattern change) as I generally think most patterns run 4-6 weeks. So, it is a bit of wish casting on my part for the warm pattern to depart early, but there is some model support for that shorter pattern window of three weeks - maybe more of a thaw. Likely the pattern will get can kicked a bit more and get to the 4 week window. The high amplitude MJO rotation is a big change in modeling, and not a positive one. But it is what it is. The worst case would be a stall in phase 6, and that is an outside possibility. I think a more likely trend would be from the MJO to get to phase 8 a bit early. I do think the foothills and E TN mountains will score during late Feb and early March. That potential cold pattern should be slightly East of where it is now, and the alignment of phase8/strat split/ shortening wavelengths should be money....but we are going to have to wait a bit. JB discussed some of that last night or this AM. I came to the same conclusion on my own, but also wanted to give a nod there. I am paying attention to the cold shot at the end of the month though. For now, I don't see much potential, but that could change.

For these types of systems, we want them south and then have them work back north. Roughly 80% of the time, these types of systems tend to trend north. This is a little bit of a different animal in that it has such strong cold behind it. In other words, this isn't your average clipper. I would guess the qpf is under done. I would tend to think the rain/snow line is too far south on the GFS. But...there is snow on the ground and this appears to be at night.

I think it was @GaWxthat said the GFS has a cold bias over snow pack. The GFS did a nice job of picking out extreme temps headed this way, but it does get carried away w/ snow pack. The air mass this weekend could be the bell ringer. Apple has me at -4 for Sunday - not the most scientific way to follow wx, but it does a decent job if within 24 hours or so.

Time of day being at night is a big advantage.

This comes in at night, right? Add in a snowpack, and that is at least a recipe for ice in valley floor locations.

I am not even sure that we are going to see the cold shot around Jan 30th. The Euro is more aggressive in getting out of the warm phases of the MJO, but I tend to lean GFS/GMON for MJO plots. Those are mid-February before things are fully reset. The strat split occurring now could get us in business by the first week of Feb. Model mayhem is probably about to occur. @Holston_River_Rambler, got any strat split goodies for us? I literally haven't looked at it today. I hope the folks I am reading are accurate!!!! LOL. Cause' I haven't looked.

Wind chill advisories have been posted for tonight for pretty much the entire forum area. For TRI, they expect wind chills to get to -15F. The GFS was very close to these numbers a 7-10 days ago. This probably won't be as bad as December of '22, but not sure I could tell the difference once it is that cold! This weekend likely will be colder. ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO NOON EST WEDNESDAY... ...WINTER STORM WARNING HAS EXPIRED... * WHAT...Very cold wind chills expected. Wind chills as low as 15 below zero. * WHERE...Portions of east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. * WHEN...For the Winter Storm Warning, until 7 AM EST this morning. For the Wind Chill Advisory, from 5 PM this afternoon to noon EST Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The cold wind chills could result in hypothermia if precautions are not taken. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Even after snow and freezing drizzle have ended, icy hazardous travel is expected today and tonight, especially on untreated roads. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat, and gloves.

@Daniel Boone, I am going to put the response to your MJO thoughts. I didn't realize I was in the storm thread. Also, check out those temps in Montana from the last three days! The strat split brought us this current outbreak and also likely this weekend's. We are going to need another one I think. I would suggest that the way that we have dodged warm phases in the past is with that set-up. I think winter returns(JB mentioned it today) due to that reason in part. Plus, I think the NAO will re-fire. I do think what looked like an early start to spring (March) is in serious peril if this warm-up has any duration.

When they are setting records like this in Montana, you know it is gonna get cold downstream. The are breaking OLD records with this current outbreak.

@weathertree4u2, I moved my reply over to the pattern discussion thread as I didn't realize I was in the next storm thread. Here is the reply to your question. I would say I am very confident of a sharp warm-up next week - spring like stuff. The return of cold continues to get can kicked. I am much less confident today about February than I have been since June - much less. I would say that we get a brief, but sharp cold shot from Jan30-Feb3, and then another warmup(not to the degree next week will be). The duration of that second warm-up will hold the fate of winter for most. The MJO is forecast to stall in phase 6 which is the warmest phase of the MJO, and there is no running from phase 6 - it is going to warm-up. Final hurrah of winter should be the final two weeks of February(maybe first week of March) as the MJO should be favorable then, and that is two weeks behind schedule. The CFSv2 would end winter as its MJO plot rotates and stalls in the warm phases. There is a strat split, and we are going to need to roll the dice(I know many don't like that reshuffle) with that reshuffle. As we have seen this week, sustained cold is the easiest way to winter. Until we get the MJO to cooperate again, it is thread the needle the rest of the way. So the strat split may be our best option so to speak. With the strat split, we should its effects 2-3 weeks down the road. I would encourage everyone to read back through the winter discussion to see the order of regions it tends to focus on. This current cold snap is probably due to strat warming during mid-late December. I would look for the NAO to reappear. Overall, and modeling doesn't show this just yet....I bet the upcoming warm-up is more of a thaw. This winter just has the feeling that it is going to be back after this week.....I could be wrong.

Portions of Interstates 81 and 26 have been closed temporarily in Kingsport as there have been numerous car accidents. Not sure those are closed due to authorities closing the interstate, or if it is accidents closing them. Either way, multiples sections and lanes of the interstate are impassible at this writing around Kingsport. These sections include decent elevation changes. https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/tdot-i-81-i-26-closed-in-areas-due-to-multiple-crashes/

Lots of snow showers this morning as the front is finally clearing this area. Everything froze this morning as yesterday the surface pretty much stayed above freezing for the entire event. Front must have finally pushed through after 3:00AM. Kingsport is a mess this morning, especially secondary roads. Stone Drive was bad in spots. I would guess our ratios were 8:1 or less. We sat right on the rain/snow line. We probably finished slightly above 6" of snow. Secondary roads are mostly a frozen combination of ice/slush/snow. Crazy storm. I kept looking to see it change over to rain, and it did not. We finally did get a bit of drizzle around midnight, but meaningful precip had moved out by then. I had also wondered if my area got lollipopped after reading returns. It looks like all of Stone Drive had similar amounts to my area. Pretty good thump for a lot of Kingsport w/ the south side of town likely suffering through mix and rain unfortunately.

Looks the Friday event could be a mixed bag for valley locations. GFS looks too progressive to me. The CMC is a "slightly off the coast" Miller A. The ICON is a cutter through middle TN Miller B. The GFS is a slider(best scenario) and OTS. My bet is this turns the corner. With the current storm out of the way, this should come into focus very quickly.

Going to be many places likely below zero tonight. After substantial snowfall for many, temps are about to get crazy cold.

And there is a storm to track on Friday it appears.

Colder than normal February is a beautiful thing to me. Most of my snows across my life at my location have been in February. There is some can kicking of the cold...I just haven't posted in a bit. It is more like weeks 2-4 of Feb as the MJO is gonna get toasty after the 22nd. We were gonna have to pay that toll at some point. It is possible that we may have a cold shot around the 30th, warm-up, and then hit the cold skids during the second week of Feb. I do urge a bit of caution to new posters (not you, Shawn). Originally, Jan 10-20th looked very warm. That can got kicked about ten days. So, any kind of strong cutter or storm is gonna bring down a lot of cold air, even during what looks like a warm-up timeframe. The first week or two of March could be cold but the jury is still out. This winter reminds me a lot of 95-96 which had a big storm, a warm-up, and then got cold again. I am maybe a little less confident that Feb is gonna be cold than I was a few weeks ago, but still reasonably confident.

For folks in NE TN, we might not have but a handful of hours above freezing for the next 6 days. Apple has my temp at -2 tomorrow morning.

Starting to look that way. I-26 between I-81 and Weber City is a mess. With temps dropping all day tomorrow, it is going to get cold tomorrow night!

The obligatory "sheet cake" picnic table photo....

6" for the storm so far.

I am hoping for the day you have to put a 2 liter back there for measurement purposes. Great photos!!!

Sitting at about 5.25" of snow. I hate it for the rest of the TRI folks who were dealing with snow/rain issues. Probably will come close to 6" of snow if these last bands work out.

Just a hair under five inches of snow.

I am thankful not to be in their shoes this evening. LOL. It is literally raining on one side of Kingsport a the moment and heavy snow on the other. That is a difference of about 7-10 miles. Good luck in the Burg!!!