Snow for Tuesday morning commute prompts advisory

(WOWK) – An expected round of snow during the Tuesday morning commute in the region is the reason the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from early in the morning until early Tuesday afternoon.

Snow will likely fall in narrow bands and should move in from the west before sunrise. Models show the bulk of the snow will fall right across I-64. The actual result could be a few miles north or south but the overall pattern of snowfall should be lengthy from west to east and narrow north to south.

The snow will likely stick on the grass and end up being more wet and slushy on the roads during the morning commute. Since I-64 carries a bulk of traffic in the region, that’s the area of greatest concern along with any roads with sharp curves.

Overall, the narrow bands of snow in the lowlands are cause for an advisory. In the high terrain, there isn’t as much traffic and it takes more snow to trigger an advisory. There may be an expansion of the alert but so far only the lowlands and high traffic areas are in the advisory.

Model snowfall estimates vary and people should expect the narrow bands of higher accumulation but also should anticipate more snow on the higher terrain areas where the air and ground are colder. The reason there aren’t more advisories in the mountains is that the criteria for an advisory calls for more snow in the high terrain where snow falls far more frequently.

The best plan: add extra time and leave a little earlier if you must travel early Tuesday and leave extra distance between your vehicle and other cars.

Be sure to get the StormTracker 13 weather app to get alerts like this as soon as they are issued. You can get our app right here and it’s free!