All Over Albany

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch - End of the World edition

A "potent" storm system is moving across the northern part of the country. And Friday is supposedly the end of the world.

Here's the (paraphrased) forecast:

Thursday: A sunny day that laughs in the face of the apocalypse. Highs around 40.

Thursday night: Rain and a lot of it over night. Wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Snow/sleet possible. Lows in the mid 30s. Is this the beginning of the end?

Friday: More rain, tapering off as the day goes on -- but total rainfall could be 1-3 inches. Breezy. Highs in the mid 40s.

Friday night: Drizzly. Chance the the world as we know it will continue its existence: 99.9 percent. (Hey, we're all day to day.) Localized doom may be experienced at retail outlets -- the mall, especially -- as last-minute shoppers try to buy for family members who seemingly need -- or want -- nothing.

Saturday: Cloudy, scattered rain and possibly some snow. Still windy. Highs in the upper 30s. Chance of hangover from end-of-the-world party: 40 percent.

Sunday: Cloudy and low 30s.

It sounds like there's some significant uncertainty about how things are going to shake out -- a "very challenging period of weather." But right now it's looking like we're in for a lot of rain, maybe a bit of snow, and some strong winds. Higher elevations could see more snow. And as with any situation where there's rain with near-freezing temps, there's the potential of the always unpleasant freezing rain.

That said, the forecast for the end of the world on Friday is looking pretty good. So start making those weekend plans.

By the way: We're at just .8 inches of snowfall so far this season. That's 9.5 inches behind the typical total by the point..

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. That said, the world will probably not end because of some snow. Most likely.