All Over Albany

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

In the days of old, when winter's teeth were sharp and the snow built mountains, the people of this land would feel the rumble of an impending icy, snowy apocalypse. And they called for a sign, some indication, a measurement -- A METER, PERHAPS -- as they contemplated an ending in ice not fire.

So it has been, so it is again: Yes, gentle people, the Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Meter returns.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for this region starting at 1 pm Monday until 1 pm Tuesday. The paraphrased forecast:

Monday afternoon: Maybe some rain, then maybe rain and snow starting around 4 pm. Windy. Highs near 40.

Monday evening: Rain, snow, and sleet through the overnight. Windy. Snow and sleet accumulation of 1-3 inches. Highs in the low 30s.

Tuesday morning and day: Rain, snow, and sleet continue. Maybe another inch. Still windy. Highs in the upper 30s.

Tuesday evening: Maybe a little more precipitation. Lows just below 30.

The winter weather advisory has the snow and sleet accumulations pegged at 2-5 inches for valley areas and 4-8 inches for higher elevations. (See probabilistic snowfall maps.) It's also predicting slippery conditions and hazardous travel at times.

The driver of this event is a storm moving up the coast. And as you know, those notoriously tricky to forecast because small changes in track or other variables can make a big difference in what happens in here. (And the NWS Albany forecast discussion indicates the models aren't in agreement about what's going to happen.)

So we're going to rate this as a "that's something" icy, snowy apocalypse. That rating isn't so much because of the potential snow, but rather the possible slush and ice that could make commutes Monday evening and Tuesday morning messy. (We'll always take snow over ice.)

Ice melt at the ready, hardy upstaters!

Media freakout/hurry, buy milk and bread and eggs forecast: Eh, winter is no longer great.

By the way: It's good to see the National Weather Service has acquired its own prototype icy, snowy apocalypse meter.

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.