– WKU has cancelled classes through Saturday due to weather.
Right now light snow has spread into south central Kentucky. Moderate snowfall with bursts of hvy snow is moving across western Tennessee into our region and should arrive around 5 pm. A dry slot is working across Mississippi/Alabama is of concern however i think this more aimed at the somerset area than us. the nam and the gfs still have there differences mainly with the front wave tonight which is moisture streaming north ahead of the low radar imagery and the ruc have me leaning in the direction of the 18z nam for this first wave. Banding could also develop causing wide ranges in areas seeing light and heavy snow this evening and still leads to wide range in forecasted totals. The second part to this storm is the upper air feature which is still back over the Southern plains this will provide the snow from early Saturday morning till Saturday night the models finally have a good handle on just where snow will be enhanced Saturday morning which appears to be the southern half of Kentucky, this should be a more general moderate snow. Overall the models are coming close to about .7 qpf which may be bumped up a bit by slightly higher than 10:1 snow ratios. For now will forecast 6-10 inches of snow for Bowling Green with the potential for this to closer to 12 if we get some more bursts of heavier snow when the qpf is expected a bit lighter this evening. The nws in Louisville provided a more technical discussion of this. I’m quite surprised that my thinking on this storm has had me close to the nws with each update so I will leave with an independent thought thinking that we may end up on the higher end of the totals.
about 2-3 inches has fallen as of 10 pm. looking at snowfall composition and an avg of .15 qpf at the mesonet stations ratios of 15:1 are reasonable with temps near 20. bands of snow will move through between 10 pm and 1 am some of them moderate at times with rates close to an inch hour at times. next forecast update will give less weight to the gfs which is not handling thunderstorms to our south well and focus on a blend of the ruc and nam. the nam through the first 6 hrs is looking reasonabily well.