Merry Christmas....Hope Santa Gets you a sled ;-)

There's lots going on now with the Christmas storm upon us and if you think this is active wait til you see how the next 2 weeks shake out.  The coldest, most Wintry pattern in many years has been thrust upon most of the Country and there's no end in sight. It looks to grow colder and colder and stormier and stormier as the new year approaches, and then some!

First up, the floods. Tonight a strong cold front will slowly come into western NC and tap both the Gulf and Atlantic with copious moisture.  Meanwhile, a wedge of cold air will nose down the immediate east sides of the Appalachians, offering places just to the north and west of Shelby the chance at an icestorm. I'm not so worried about the ice accumulations as I am the chance at major, big time flooding. The last few months have been wet, plus the ground is covered in a snowpack across the foothills and mountains, and when you add nearly 2 more inches of rain early Christmas morning. you've got quite a robust flooding recipe.

Beyond this, clearing and much colder air comes into our area. You barely get a chance to relax though, because by Sunday night another storm is coming into southern California and this is where things start to get really interesting. Normally, a storm that comes into southern Cal. in the Winter time will track across the Deep South and offer up a chance of frozen precip if theres enough cold air. Normally, we don't have enough cold air, however this year looks different.  Cold air abounds, and it wouldn't surprise me that next week will be the first widespread southern snowstorm in many years, possibly dating back to the 1980's, looking at it on the large scale. There's still plenty of time to see exactly where it heads.
If that one doesn't pan out for snow, then don't fret...theres many more chances as this upcoming pattern is the best one in years for delivering both cold and moisture..at the same time.

Stay safe in all the heavy rain, and ice This Christmas!  Check back soon for our next Winter Storm.

Notice Cleveland County is in a freezing rain advisory, most likely it occurs in the northern sections. Ice storm warnings just to our north and northwest.  When all is said and done, many of these counties will be under flood warnings on Christmas.