Winter Storm Inga's Latest

Winter Storm Inga's Snowy Swath Stretches From the Florida Panhandle to Maine Wednesday; Lingering Icy Roads in the South

By Chris Dolce

Story Highlights

Snow is now falling from parts fo the Florida panhandle to Maine.

Snow may be heavy Wednesday in parts of North Carolina and Maine.

Lingering icy travel persists as far west as Texas, due to subfreezing temperatures in the wake of Tuesday's snow and ice.

Winter Storm Inga's mess of snow has now spread to the East, however, its lingering accumulated ice and snow in the South is still causing travel problems, thanks to post-storm cold air.


Happening Now

An expansive area of snow stretches from the parts of southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia and the Florida panhandle to New England.


Current Radar and Conditions

Snow was reported as far south as Panama City and Destin, Florida, early Wednesday, and sleet accumulated on vehicle tops and grassy areas in Pensacola, Florida, overnight Tuesday night.

Snow also fell in Mobile County, Alabama, overnight. If officially measured at Mobile Regional Airport, it would make this season only the second on record - January 1977 being the other - with two measurable snow events, there.

Parts of the Atlanta metro area picked up over 1 inch of snow Tuesday night into early Wednesday, shutting down schools, triggering major delays at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and making roads treacherous.

Snow is falling in Upstate South Carolina and the changeover to wet snow has begun in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham metro areas. In western North Carolina, Waynesville (elevation: 3,800 feet), picked up 3.5 inches of snow in just 2 hours Wednesday morning.

A light dusting of snow blanketed the Washington D.C. metro area.

Other parts of the Northeast have already picked up around 6 inches of snow, including Wantage, New Jersey (5 inches), Albrightsville, Pennsylvania (7 inches), and Cummington, Massachusetts (just under 6 inches).

While New York City remained mainly rain, 3 to 5 inches of snow had accumulated just up the Hudson Valley in Orange County, New York.

Winter Weather Alerts

Winter storm warnings continue in effect for parts of the Carolinas, southern Virginia, and a narrow strip from the Poconos to New England.

These warnings include the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, the far northwest and west suburbs of Boston, and Portland, Maine.

Winter weather advisories are in effect for many other locations in the South and Northeast. In fact, winter weather advisories extend as far south as the western Florida Panhandle and extreme southern Texas.


Current Winter Watches, Warnings and Advisories

From the National Weather Service.

Timing the Snow and Ice

Wednesday-Wednesday night

• Snow will continue from Georgia to parts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, with a changeover from rain to snow from west to east in the Carolinas.
• Snow will also persist from the Poconos and parts of New Jersey into New England, with the exception of parts of Long Island and southeast New England, where rain may be the dominant precipitation type.
• Much of the snow associated with Inga will be finished with by Wednesday night, except in northern Maine and eastern North Carolina.

Wednesday's Outlook

Areas shown in darkest teal have the best chance of snow. Areas in pink may see either rain, snow, sleet or freezing rain. Areas in purple may see sleet or freezing rain. Areas shown in darkest green have the best chance of rain.

How Much More Snow?

• South: From 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected from the Deep South through parts of the Carolinas and southern Virginia. Parts of North Carolina and southern Virginia may see up to 6 inches of snow. This will lead to widespread travel disruption from Alabama and Georgia to southern Virginia.
• Northeast: A swath from the Hudson Valley north of New York City to New England may see another 3 to 6 inches of snow, with the heaviest totals in Downeast Maine. 

(MORE: Where Winter Weather Has Been Most Extreme So Far)


Snowfall Forecast Through Wednesday

Temperature Forecast: When Will the South Thaw?

• Temperatures will struggle to rise above freezing Wednesday afternoon in areas that picked up snow and ice in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Therefore, icy roads may remain an issue in those areas until afternoon.
• Refreezing on roads is likely once again Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
• In snow-covered parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, temperatures may not rise above freezing until Thursday, meaning treacherous travel conditions are likely to persist until Thursday afternoon.

Current Temperatures

Inga's South Recap

Portions of the Austin, San Antonio and Houston metros picked up light freezing rain and sleet accumulations Tuesday, leading to numerous accidents. State Highway 225 in Deer Park, east of Houston, was closed Tuesday afternoon, and de-icing of State Highway 146 at the Fred Hartman Bridge led to delays in that area during the evening commute.

Sleet drifts had topped a half-foot in portions of the Houston metro area by Tuesday evening. Bridges and overpasses remained icy Wednesday morning, as temperatures plunged into the upper teens and 20s.

Icy conditions have also been reported to the east of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, resulting in accidents near Canton.

Inga was Deep South Texas' third wintry event of the season, bringing sleet as far south as Brownsville, resulting in icy roads, there.

With 0.8 inches of snow measured Tuesday in Jackson, Mississippi, it was enough to slicken roads, causing a tanker truck to jackknife on Interstate 55 northbound. The highway had to be shut down Tuesday afternoon to remove the truck. Wednesday morning, every Mississippi county reported icy roads.

Interstate 49 was closed much of Tuesday in the immediate Shreveport, Louisiana, area due to wintry travel conditions. Up to 2 inches of snow was on the ground in Shreveport as of late Tuesday morning, marking the first time an inch or more had accumulated in the city since 3.1 inches was recorded on Feb. 25, 2015.

Inga brought some impressive snowfall totals to western Kentucky, including 9 inches in Murray and 8.1 inches at the National Weather Service office in Paducah. Up to 8.5 inches of snow was measured in northern Arkansas near Omaha.

Snow-covered roads were reported in the Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, metro areas Tuesday, where 1 to 3 inches had fallen.

Here are some select top snowfall totals by state in the South as of Wednesday morning:

• Alabama: 3.2 inches near Auburn
• Arkansas: 8.5 inches near Omaha
• Kentucky: 8.5 inches near Guthrie
• Louisiana: 3 inches near West Monroe, Bossier City, Haughton and Rayville
• Mississippi: 2.5 inches in Kosciusko, Cleveland and Schlater
• Tennessee: 7 inches near Dover and Paris
• Texas: 3.4 inches in Hughes Springs

Inga's Midwest Recap

An intense lake-enhanced band of snow hammered Wisconsin's Doore County peninsula with over a foot of snow Sunday night into Monday morning.

Generally, from 2 to 5 inches of snow fell across the Midwest Monday, including 4.4 inches in Rockford, Illinois, 4.1 inches at the National Weather Service office near Chicago, 3.9 inches at Madison-Dane County Airport in Madison, Wisconsin, and 2 inches in Indianapolis.

A few reports of 6 inches of snow came in from near La Crosse, Wisconsin, and in the town of Streator, Illinois, early Monday. Localized totals topping a half-foot were reported in southeastern Missouri.