Meteorologist: Snow is coming

The National Weather Service is calling for a 70 percent chance of snow Friday.

By: Joe McAdory Staff writer | Opelika Auburn News
Published: February 11, 2010

When asked if Lee County would receive snowfall Friday, Scott Unger didn’t hesitate.
“This isn’t a snow forecast. This will be an accumulation forecast,” said Unger, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Birmingham office. “It’s going to be how much.”
Unger and fellow forecasters at the NWS are calling for — get this — one to three inches of snowfall Friday in central Alabama, including Lee County and surrounding areas. Lee County, and much of south Alabama, was already placed on a Winter Storm Watch Wednesday afternoon. The wintry precipitation — predicted Wednesday afternoon — is expected to begin Friday in the mid-to-late morning, but forecasts change every day.
An advisory issued Wednesday by the National Weather Service read: “It appears that areas generally along and south of a line from Aliceville to Calera to Roanoke may receive one to three inches of snow accumulation mainly during the daylight hours Friday.”
Snow was forecasted as far south as Dothan.
“Cold air will be here, no doubt,” Unger continued. “You should see one-to-three inches, easy. The main thing now is how much moisture will come from the Gulf. It all depends on the timing of cold air with the moisture. I’d say it’s 70 percent (snowfall), going on 80. I feel very confident about this.”
Forecasters were also confident last month, calling for a 70 percent chance of snow in Lee County on Jan. 7. It didn’t snow. Instead, the area received a mix of mostly rain with some sleet.
“Things are more in line this time,” Unger said.
Unger acknowledged that predicting winter weather is among the most difficult tasks for meteorologists, particularly in the Deep South.
“The problem is ... there’s a combination of different things that have to happen,” Unger said. “It’s got to be a perfect mix of cold air in the atmosphere and enough moisture, or it won’t happen. There is such a wide range of what every computer model tells us — we try to go with one that’s middle of the road.”
Friday’s forecasted high for the Opelika-Auburn area is 36 degrees with an overnight low of 25 degrees.
Today’s high temperature is expected to reach 48 degrees, with partly cloudy skies.