Weather models continue to insist that the northern and southern jet stream will interact this weekend over WNC, and a strong winter storm could be the result. Yesterday there was some disagreement among global models as to how cold the atmosphere will actually be on Saturday, but today there appears to be agreement that the column over Asheville on Saturday evening will be frozen and support snowfall.

How Much For WNC?

Thats a tough call right now, and below you can see the most recent GFS model depiction of accumulated snow. The European shows similar totals. It has been a long time since I have seen this type of agreement among models as we approach a storm. Not only that, but in agreement that 12”+ of snow is possible. I don’t want to cause panic, but 3-4 days out with all global models showing a very large storm is something to prepare for.

How To Begin To Prepare

You have plenty of time to prepare for this storm, but on your weekly store visit.. pick up some extra essentials in case you were to lose power. This snow will be a heavy wet paste like snow that sticks to most everything, so power outages are likely. It will be beautiful though! As we approach the event, I will go more in-depth about how to prepare for this storm, but right now it would be wise to get some extra items at the storm.

What Other Models Show

Below is a radar depiction from most every model I use to forecast by. As you can see there is agreement that a large storm is likely. As we approach Saturday, I will continue to update, but these show you a good picture of what is possible and what the radar could look like nationwide on Saturday.

GFS

European

ICON German Model

GEM Canadian Model

FV3-GFS Test (new upgraded GFS)