2:15 PM | Interesting battle going on in the atmosphere between cold air suppression and precipitation shield expansion

Discussion

An interesting battle is going on right now in the Mid-Atlantic atmosphere with respect to the current storm located over Georgia as it is trying to expand its precipitation shield to the north and west, but colder air moving in from the northwest is acting to suppress any expansion. Currently, there is a sharp northwestern edge in the precipitation field from around Charlottesville, VA to just south of DC to Dover, DE to Cape May, NJ. Current radar loops suggest some expansion to the northwest is actually occurring (over West Virginia) and this storm could still throw some snow or flurries back into SE PA and the NYC metro region during the nighttime hours as it passes off the Carolina coastline. However, it'll be a tough fight as some of the precipitation will not reach the ground due to evaporation in the dry, cold air. Accumulating snow is more likely farther south from just south of the DC metro region to the Delmarva Peninsula to the South Jersey coastline. Temperatures that are well above freezing right now in many of these Mid-Atlantic locations will drop quickly late this afternoon as colder air moves in from the northwest. The heaviest snowfall today will occur across southern and central Virginia and in portions of North Carolina and, believe it or not, there is heavy snow falling right now in the Deep South at places like Birmingham and Tuscaloosa in the state of Alabama. Friday will be a noticeably colder and breezy day behind the storm and then, after a moderate weekend, the coldest air so far this season moves into the Mid-Atlantic for the early and middle parts of next week. Stay tuned as this is still a tricky forecast.