Much worse than expected

Friday, Jan.12, 2018 11 A.M.

Sleet/freezing rain will cause more problems than snow.

This afternoon is going to be a real mess.  Yesterday, I discussed the quicker timing on the current weather pattern.  So far, that has worked okay…with one exception – cold air.  Temperatures were expected to remain in the 30’s until late afternoon.  But, the really cold air (20’s) has swept across the area much sooner than that.  It’s already here.  So, the consequence of that is much more trouble.

With temperatures aloft still well above freezing, rain will be the primary precipitation until late afternoon.  As that rain falls into the cold near-surface air we’ll see a 4 to 6 hour period of freezing rain gradually changing to sleet.  If freezing rain dominates, it could cause big problems with tree limbs, power lines, etc.  If sleet dominates the main problems will be with the roads.  Sleet should be the dominate precipitation, but a longer than expected period of freezing rain isn’t out of the question.

The snow part of the equation hasn’t changed.  The precipitation should change to snow by 3-5 P.M.  Snow will wind down this evening and end by midnight.  It’ll be hard to measure with all the ice already on the ground, but the Louisville area should see an accumulation of 1″ to 3″.  Higher snow totals are likely north and west of town.

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