Little has changed in the past 24 hours regarding the impending winter weather event. It was reported here at Salisbury Weather (sbywx.blog) that the Salisbury area could expect to wake up to about 6 inches of snow on Sunday morning and, as of this morning, we stand by that likelihood.
The image at the top of this post from early this morning is the ECMWF model projections for snow depth at noon on Sunday.
A changeover to a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain is still expected during the day on Sunday leading to total accumulations of 8 or more inches of snow, sleet, and ice before ending on Monday morning.
The biggest unknown is exactly where the freeze line will settle in. Any type of wintry precipitation that your particular area is likely to receive will be significant. Areas near the coast will see rain in the afternoon.
The snow that falls early is expected to be of the light and fluffy variety. Any sleet and freezing rain that falls will compact the snowpack, so the day may end with fewer inches of total accumulation on the ground. That, of course, is going to freeze and remain frozen for days.
The greater danger of ice appears to increase from west of Salisbury towards Dorchester County.
The potential for significant and even catastrophic ice accretion is possible. Please take precautions in the event of a power loss.
Impacts from the storm are likely to last well into next week as temperatures below freezing will remain settled across the shore.
While waiting for the storm to arrive Salisbury can expect partly cloudy skies with a high of 47 degrees today before Saturday becomes mostly cloudy. Saturday will begin with lows in the teens that will only rise to about 23 degrees. You will “feel” the storm coming in the air.
We pledge to update information here as things evolve. No Winter Storm Warning has been issued as of this post this morning. That would indicate that forecasters want to be as precise as possible with announcing specific storm impacts over the next several hours.
Stayed tunes. Surely things will change.
Updated at 10 AM