U.S. Mid-South Livestock, Travel Threatened By Snow, Ice
By Drew Lerner
Kansas City, January 21 (World Weather Inc.) – A very intense winter storm will move through the mid-southern U.S. states tonight and into the middle Atlantic Coast region Friday afternoon into Saturday. The storm will shut down commerce from the northern U.S. Delta to the Washington, D.C. area and bring travel to a halt. The largest threat to agriculture will be for livestock in the region as cold rain and heavy wet snow accumulates rapidly causing serious stress and a threat to animal health.
A rapidly intensifying storm center over the lower Mississippi River Valley this afternoon and tonight will pull large amounts of moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico into the mid-south region of the United States. The moisture influx will be accompanied by warming air temperatures and that will contrast with cold air to the north across the Midwest and back to the west in a part of the Great Plains. The environment will be nearly ideal for rapid storm development and that is the reason for so much concern about this particular storm.
Moisture totals of 1.00 to 3.00 inches will be common from the Delta to the middle Atlantic coast and the northern part of the precipitation shield will likely be all snow. The greatest snowfall will occur from the northern Delta region (northeastern Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi and western Tennessee) through Kentucky and northern Tennessee to West Virginia and northern Virginia. These areas will receive 4 to 12 inches of snowfall with local totals approaching 15 inches from Kentucky and northern Tennessee to near the Appalachian Mountains. Snowfall in the mountains of West Virginia and northern Virginia there may be 12 to 24 inches and there will also be snowfall of 15 inches or more in the Washington, D.C. area.
A narrow band of freezing rain and sleet will occur to the south of the heavier snowfall region while most of the precipitation to the south will occur as mostly rain with a little snow at the end of the storm. Accumulations in the southern half of the Tennessee River Basin into North Carolina will not be much more than 1 to 3 inches.
The wind with this storm will become quite intense for the southeastern states. Speeds will vary from 20 to 40 mph with gusts to 45 as the storm peaks in intensity Friday afternoon through Saturday. Wind coupled with heavy snow will create blizzard conditions across a part of Kentucky and northern Tennessee into the central Appalachian Mountain region and possibly into the Washington, D.C. area.
Falling temperatures behind the storm will also be factor with low temperatures in the 20s and a few upper teens Fahrenheit likely in the snow covered areas as the storm winds down. High temperatures Friday and Saturday will be confined to the 30s and lower 40s across most of the snow and rain area from the northern Delta to the Washington D.C. area.
Travel delays will be significant and many roads in the northern part of the precipitation area will be shut down for a while. Most businesses will likely close Friday and may stay closed Saturday as the storm winds down from west to east.
The travel and commerce issues are certainly significant, but the largest threat to agriculture may be more deadly. Some of the worst conditions for livestock to endure are cold rain, heavy (wet) snow and freezing rain combined with windy conditions. These are the same conditions that resulted in livestock deaths in South Dakota in October 2013 and again in New Mexico and a part of West Texas earlier this season. The animals in the mid-south region are a little more acclimated to winter conditions than in those in the previous disasters that occurred in South Dakota and the southwestern Plains. Nevertheless, Snow and cold rain has not been combined with such a veracity as that which is expected Friday into Saturday and the potential for animal loss is rising. Most cattlemen are already aware of the potential and are likely taking full advantage of what time is available before the storm hits to bring animals into and a more controlled environment.
In addition to all of the above issues expected from the two-day winter storm, there will also be renewed flooding in some areas. Most of the flooding will occur on minor rivers and streams from the middle and northern Delta region into the middle Atlantic coast region including Virginia, North Carolina, northern South Carolina and areas west into Tennessee, and Kentucky.
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