Don't get out your snow sleds just yet, Chattanooga

Area forecasters say it's too soon to confirm snow prediction for this weekend

Isaiah Smallman walks his dogs through Miller Plaza during afternoon snow flurries Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Chattanooga.
Isaiah Smallman walks his dogs through Miller Plaza during afternoon snow flurries Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Chattanooga.

The big thing is that it will get colder. Lows of 20s and teens coming up for the weekend and into next week. That's the thing that's for sure.

photo In this 2015 file photo, light traffic moves along I-24 as snow falls in the Chattanooga area on February 9, 2015.

While some weather models predict snow for this weekend in the Chattanooga area, WRCB-TV 3 Chief Meteorologist Paul Barys isn't quick to confirm.

"One of the computer models was going hog wild on snow for the end of the week, but the others are not," he said Monday. "We call that an outlier, one who is sticking his nose way out like that. You don't usually go with that."

Barys said one computer model shows the possibility of snow on Saturday, but most models only predict colder weather.

"The big thing is that it will get colder. Lows of 20s and teens coming up for the weekend and into next week. That's the thing that's for sure," Barys said.

There will probably be a few rain sprinkles throughout the day on Tuesday and then rain will probably fade out. Wednesday and Thursday look dry, Barys said.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said it has a computer model predicting snow as early as Thursday night or Friday morning, but like Barys, National Weather Service forecasters said they'd prefer waiting until more computers say the same thing before they predict snow.

"The more model agreement there is, the more confidence we have," said Sam Roberts, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown. "There's not very good agreement at the present time."

Hopefully by Wednesday, closer to the weekend, the weather models should come into better agreement," Roberts said.

Barys said snow in the Chattanooga area is only expected to be up to a half inch, if there is any.

Snow last fell in the city nearly a year ago when .3 inches of snow dropped on Feb. 9.

Forecasters say despite rainfall at the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017, the city is still in a drought.

About .86 inches of rain had accumulated in the Chattanooga area between Jan. 1 and early Monday evening. That's .57 inches above normal, but total rainfall for 2016 is still more than 16 inches below normal.

"We were so dry for so long that we've still got some ground to make up," Roberts said.

Chattanooga finished the year with 35.58 inches of precipitation. But average annual rainfall calls for 52.48 inches, he said.

The city is still in a drought, but instead of being in what is known as a D4 drought, the most exceptional case of drought, it has improved its ranking to D3, known as an extreme drought.

"We still need more rain, but what we're getting is slowly starting to help," Roberts said.

Barys said a lot of severe weather has been south of Chattanooga and will probably stay south of the city.

Forecasters issued a tornado watch Monday for most of Louisiana as severe weather brought a variety of threats to a large part of the Deep South.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said portions of Louisiana, Mississippi and south Alabama are the areas of greatest concern for damaging storms.

The Storm Prediction Center said 6.9 million people in large parts Louisiana, Mississippi and south Alabama were at the highest risk of storms Monday. The area included several large cities such as New Orleans; Jackson, Miss.; and Mobile, Ala.

Forecasters said damaging winds, hail, flash flooding and a few tornadoes hit the areas Monday afternoon and evening.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6431.

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