Jan 30th-February 1st 2026 Arctic Blast/ULL Snow OBS Thread.

[GBOVolz]

Got a snow shadow a few minutes ago for @Holston_River_Rambler is I believe who mentioned pics before.




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[John1122]

Sitting at 5 as midnight approaches. Big full moon and snow makes it look practically like dawn outside instead of midnight. 

 

[Jed33]

It’s currently 1° at the house, and I’m on a hill above the lake. Most certainly is below zero around the sheltered valleys. I also see TRI is reporting -6° Wow! MRX issued a cold weather advisory for just the temperatures as they said they didn’t expect it to get this cold. As others have said, it’s the power of a healthy snowpack. It will do it every time.

[Math/Met]

-5F this morning.

[Windspeed]

I think KTRI officially got down to -3°F at the airport, but my vehicle read -5°F at work in Bristol. Either way, an official new record low temperature for February 2nd. Fortunately, there's no wind, so there's no real difference in wind chill.

[Holston_River_Rambler]

I see a -15 between Jonesborough and Johnson City:

 

Shady Valley looks like the winner:

I know the Wunderground map isn't the be all, end all, but I could only find a couple of places on that network, on the whole planet (in rural Quebec), that were colder this AM. 

[IndTenn]

0 at my house in the warmest microclimate around Kingsport.  It probably hasn't been this cold here since 2014 or 2015, when the camellias were defoliated.

[IndTenn]

14 minutes ago, Holston_River_Rambler said:

I see a -15 between Jonesborough and Johnson City:

 

Shady Valley looks like the winner:

I know the Wunderground map isn't the be all, end all, but I could only find a couple of places on that network, on the whole planet (in rural Quebec), that were colder this AM. 

I don't know what the wind direction was last night, but of note are those warmer readings south of Fall Branch, in what would be the downslope off Chimney Top.

[BlunderStorm]

Wow, I bottomed out at -9.7F with areas in town a few degrees lower per wunderground. I took a quick drive to run an errand and took a few pics at the Clinch river and it was -14 on the car thermometer in Rosedale. For SWVA it looks like the winner was Tazewell which bottomed out at -18F!! in some valleys. (still in the Tennessee Valley ) 

[Carvers Gap]

Looks like KTRI dipped to -6F according to the 3 day weather history.  The low which was broken was from 1971(0F), and was TRI's coldest temp in 11 years per David Boyd, a met at WCYB.  When we start breaking record lows from the 70s, that is saying something.

[Carvers Gap]

Just now, BlunderStorm said:

Wow, I bottomed out at -9.7F with areas in town a couple degrees lower. I took a quick drive to run an errand and took a few pics at the Clinch river. For SWVA it looks like the winner was Tazewell which bottomed out at -18F!! in some valleys. (still in the Tennessee Valley ) 

Wow!!! That is truly impressive.

[tnweathernut]

12 hours ago, John1122 said:

Some social media response to that terrible map.  This is why snowfall averages are off and it effects weather model performance. 

 

 

 

 

With spotters and accumulations being posted from a lot of different places, it makes you wonder how snow maps in the year 2026 are off that much.  Sure, I get the guy who measures a drift to inflate, but that goes both ways.  It's just as much an error when you post "official" measurements off by a factor of 2x or 3x also.

[Holston_River_Rambler]

Got a quick gif of some lake effect clouds/ fog coming off Cherokee and Douglas Lakes overnight. I rock it back and forth to hopefully make it easier to see. 

 

[Holston_River_Rambler]

13 hours ago, John1122 said:

I also feel like Holston got more than 1/10th of an inch as well. 

Sorry I'm just now seeing the map this am. I still have more than that after a day of sunshine, compaction, and sublimation lol

[Jed33]

26 minutes ago, Holston_River_Rambler said:

Got a quick gif of some lake effect clouds/ fog coming off Cherokee and Douglas Lakes overnight. I rock it back and forth to hopefully make it easier to see. 

 

This was the view from my neighbor’s house earlier this morning. Overlooking Cherokee Lake. For reference I’m at the corner of Hamblen, Hawkins, and Grainger Co. Ice is beginning to form in spots on the lake. I’ve only seen that 1 or 2 times since we’ve lived here. An impressive airmass for sure!

[Icy Hot]

So Google says this is Hoarfrost, not to be confused with Rime Ice. Either way, it is so cool to look at!

[dwagner88]

I got down to 12 and then shot up to 25 already.