• Hello, please take a minute to check out our awesome content, contributed by the wonderful members of our community. We hope you'll add your own thoughts and opinions by making a free account!

Jan. 17-18, 2026 SE Winter Weather Threat

That's true. As someone that is in Atlanta, I have mostly been focusing on that northern edge which shifted SE quite a bit.. but yes, the main batch of moisture didn't move that much.
Seen this dog and pony act before when Nashville got last years snow. Snow was expected in Atlanta, I thought Chatttown was in a good place. The models all shifted the precept shield even more south than before, only to later correct about 250 - 300 miles north. Yea, we still have 3 days before this event. I learned from last time to wait until 48hrs before rushing to a sled! I believe this is why Morristown put up they were watching for two scenario's before laying blood to print in their forecast!

Scenario's
 
Last edited:
Last Jan we had a similar situation where models had no qpf even over Myrtle and Charlotte saw snow. Not saying clt is getting 1-3” but it’s silly to think models have a storm nailed 72hrs out and yet we do this every year.
Yeah and obviously as others have mentioned we can usually expect to see precip more expansive to the north and west than what globals indicate.
 
Yeah and obviously as others have mentioned we can usually expect to see precip more expansive to the north and west than what globals indicate.
Yep, the idea that globals or hires has precip shield figured out 72 hrs out is laughable. Last year we saw massive shifts w with qpf inside 18hrs!
 
Searching for a nugget here, and I do find this interesting.

The 18Z EMCF 500Mb presentation more closely resembles the 6Z GFS than the drier 18Z GFS presentation at the same time stamp. If that vorticity bundle on the backside extends as far SW as both the 18Z Euro and 6Z GFS show, I maintain hope for some close-in surprises with SW swinging through the South Saturday night and Sunday. The last panel is the 18Z gfs for comparison.

It was clear when the 18Z GFS was running that we were in trouble 36 hours in.

How far west, and the strength of that vorticity at the base of the trough when it begins the pivot, are key. The first panel is the renegade NAM look that I'd love to see verified at 48 hours. nam-500hv-conus-2026011518-48 (1).png



ecmwf_full-500hv-conus-2026011518-48.pnggfs-500hv-conus-2026011506-60.pnggfs-500hv-conus-2026011518-48.png
 
I have been away for a bit so sorry if this was already shared but the NWS RAL put out there official forecast.

375925bf1a4b32179898e357125d7803.png



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top