All Over Albany

Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

Is this winter ready to be a proper winter? Because it's not yet mid December and already the Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch is making an appearance.

The paraphrased forecast for the next few days:

Monday night: Snow starting late in the night. Lows in the mid 20s.

Tuesday: Snow to start, then a mixture of snow and rain. Accumulations of a few inches in Albany. Highs in the upper 30s.

Tuesday night: Maybe some more snow. Cold -- lows below 20.

Wednesday: A chance of snow. Earnestly cold. Highs in the low 20s.

Thursday: Sun. Highs in the mid 20s.

This snowfall has already been getting some hype, but the NWS probabilistic snowfall forecast* has the "expected" snow total for the Capital Region core on Tuesday pegged at 2-3 inches in Albany and 4-6 inches in Saratoga. And the range of projected possibilities is relatively narrow, just a few inches higher or lower on each end. It sounds like some warm air will make an appearance and hold down the totals. But, you know, things change, so there could be a shift. (Also: A few inches of wet snow can be worse than half a foot of fluff.) If anything, it looks like the cold weather following the snow could be more significant.

Drop this snow event in February and we're guessing most people who just sort of shrug. In early December, though... the gas tank on the hype blower is full and people are eager to pull the start cord.

So we're rating this icy, snowy apocalypse somewhere just north of "flake news" because it sounds like there will be snow, but this storm is getting hyped by the early season perspective.

Shovels at the ready; remember that you are hardy upstaters.

Media freakout forecast: Out of practice.

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.

* Bookmark/fave/remember that NWS Albany page. It will be very helpful throughout the winter.