Dangerous Cold This Week

[Clay]

A lot of virga is on the radar although some is falling. You just can't get heavy snow with a dew point of -12º easily.  

[Mr. William E. Brantley]

Your Right Clay :  I forgot how to spell Virga at the Moment
Thanks for reminding me.
I wonder how big the Snow flakes are at Cloud level ?

[Reneezelle]

Im hearing rumors of some frz rain or sleet. Anyone know anything??
 

[shaq725]

I threw a cup of water on the deck this morning, and of course it froze fast. I left it there,and now its nearly completely gone. Now that is some dry air.

[beth]

Its so disappointing because its too warm to snow here most of the time and now its too cold to snow. But it sure looks snowy! 

[Snowman]

Found this interesting this evening from Alabama Weather. Maps can be found on thier site. I have a link on my blog if ya do not know it.

Light snow aloft
January 16, 2009, 5:40 pm | Dr. Tim Coleman | Forecast Discussion



An upper-level impulse is producing an area of very light snow across western and middle Tennessee and northern Alabama, and it is moving south. However, the air is do dry that most of the snow is sublimating (going straight from snow to water vapor) before reaching the ground.

Interestingly, as the snow falls mainly between 4,000 and 8,000 feet and dries up, it is adding some humidity to the air, and the snow is reaching a little closer to the ground with time. Here is a time-height section of radar return from the vertically-pointing MIPS wind profiler at UAH. Notice how the snow was drying up around 5,000 feet at 2 pm, and is now reaching as far as 3,500 feet.



With light snow all the way back to Kentucky, the atmosphere may moisten up enough to allow a few flakes to reach the ground, especially over north Alabama, this evening. But, no accumulations are expected.

[JayCee]

Basically, this air mass, as dry as it is, came from a desert.  The desert just happens to be of arctic origin.