Snow in the Picture?

An interesting weather scenario will unfold late Friday night and Saturday morning. Upper level energy ejecting out of Texas tomorrow evening will result in the development of a surface low in the western Gulf of Mexico. As this low strengthens and moves eastward Friday night and Saturday morning, it will spread moisture northward across the Deep South. Meanwhile, as a deep upper air trough moves over the region, it will supply a reinforcing shot of cold, Canadian air. The combination of the upper level dynamics and the surface low will generate enough lift for a band of light to moderate precipitation to develop across Louisiana, southern Mississippi, and southern Alabama. Lighter amounts of precipitation will fall across central Mississippi and Alabama.

The coupling of the cold air and moisture will be enough to cause some winter weather concerns, especially Saturday morning. Although some light snow will likely occur between midnight and 8 a.m. on Saturday, I don't feel like there will be any travel concerns for Oktibbeha County. This is primarily due to the deeper moisture remaining to our south and very warm soil temperatures. In fact, soil temperatures on the North Farm at MSU are 51 F. It would take a heavy burst of snow to cause much in the way of accumulations, and the lift needed to generate a heavy burst will remain well to our south. If you're headed to southeast Louisiana, southern Mississippi, or southern Alabama, there could be some accumulations (up to 2") of snow.