Jan 25 - 26 2026 Ice, sleet, and for a lucky few..... snow storm

[Holston_River_Rambler]

[Holston_River_Rambler]

Yesterday, fountain guy noticed that some of the hi-res CAMs were showing some ice cutting across the eastern Unakas into the Great Eastern Valley of Tennessee.  This seemed odd, since normally CAD (Cold Air Damming) events are a meteorological phenomenon of the eastern side of the Apps, when cold arctic highs ooze down the foothills of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and sometimes Georgia. The cold air is shallow however and typically cannot make it overt he Appalachian mountains. 

Here are some of the images showing the cold air bleeding across the NC and TN border as well as some downslope warming:

 

Dewpoints:

 

Dewpoints really make this evident when set in motion:

 

Here are the relevant topography features. I only put the Nolichukcy and French Broad Valleys on there since they are two of the larger rivers, but the Doe and the Watauga also cut into CAD areas:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Holston_River_Rambler]

This is all I have time for now, but don't think this thread is just for obs. about about the potential for the phenomena above. I'm sure we'll have plenty of other phots as long as we have power. 

[Holston_River_Rambler]

Other microclimates of potential interest for this system on the 6z NAM: