Late Winter Storm Causing Havoc
Much of the eastern half of the country is under the grips of a late winter storm that is bringing plenty of rain and snow to many areas. Much of Ohio is under a blizzard warning, and a winter storm warning extends from southern Arkansas to Maine. Earlier in the week, the storm brought snow to Texas, including six inches reported near Fort Worth and up to nine inches in the northern part of the state.
This system reminds me of the storm we had back on March 12-15, 1993 which brought half a foot of snow to the Atlanta area, and much more further north. Coincidentally, that was the weekend that Atlanta Motor Speedway held its Spring NASCAR race, the same as this weekend. While the worst effects of the storm will be further west than the 93 version, there is the same type of gulf-moisture driven low pressure that we saw back then.
The low is moving northeast, dragging gulf moisture with it. More recently, much of Arkansas and Oklahoma received up to 14 inches of the white stuff, and further north, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky have reported between 2 and 4 inches of snow, with more to come this evening as the front moves north. Of course, the snow is on the cold side of the front. On the warm side, temperatures stayed well above normal today, with a high here in Lawrenceville of 70 degrees.
As the cold front passes through, temperatures here in north Georgia will drop by more than 30 degrees overnight, and will be only in the low 40s on Saturday. Temperatures in the upper 20s Saturday night could spell the end for the newly blooming Bradford Pear trees, before things start to recover on Sunday.
All the rain we’ve had recently has been good news for the North Georgia drought. The water level at Lake Lanier stands at 1054.36 feet above sea level, almost a foot higher than where it was three days ago due to runoff from the storms. I’ve also noticed that soil moisture measured a foot below ground level is increasing with each storm. However, we may be nearing an end of our rainy spell. Once the front passes through, it should remain dry through next Thursday or Friday, and the longer range outlook calls for warmer and drier weather in North Georgia from the 13th through the 21st.
As a morning person, I’ve enjoyed seeing the sun rise earlier as we approach the official first day of spring. However, with the start of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, the sun will rise later than it did even in the dead of winter back in early January. With the days lengthening by over two minutes a day, it won’t be too long before we’ll be back to the sun rising before most people have to leave for work, and the later evening sunset will be appreciated as well.
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