All Over Albany

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

The Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch cranks up for the first time in the new year -- 2014 is here and it's giving us the cold shoulder. Jerk.

The paraphrased forecast:

Thursday: Snowy, cold. Daytime accumulations maybe as high as 4 inches. High temps near 11 degrees.

Thursday night: Snowy, very cold. Additional accumulations of as much as 7 inches. Lows just under 0.

Friday: Snow in the morning, but probably not a lot of accumulation, maybe an inch. Blowing snow, wind chills as low as -20. High temp around 8 degrees.

Friday night: Really @#$%^&*@#$ cold. Lows near -11.

This storm is moving in from the west, so there's no will-it-or-won't-it-track-along-the-coast questions.

The NWS has issued a winter storm warning and total accumulations in the Capital Region could approach a foot of snow, with a few more inches in higher elevations around the edge of the region. And it's going to be no-joke cold the next few days, with sub-zero lows both Thursday and Friday. The upside to the low, low temps is that the snow should be light and fluffy.

We're going to peg this as a "grudging respect" icy, snowy apocalypse. The snow totals aren't crazy high -- and should be fluffy -- but those sub-zero temps could cause problems. Winter is asking to be taken seriously.

By the way: Another storm is projected to affect the region Sunday night into Monday with snow, sleet, and the ever-popular freezing rain. Or, as the NWS forecast discussion describes it -- a "wintry mess."

Shovels at the ready, hardy Upstaters. It's time to layer up.

Media freakout forecast: Medium. Everyone's probably a little hung over from the New Year, but as the hype monkeys are touting, this storm could affect more than 100 million people across the country.

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.