Above is the visible satellite image from 10:31 am (Sunday February 18th). That’s snow cover, not cloud cover, across northern and eastern sections of Middle Tennessee. A rundown of snow totals courtesy of the Nashville NWS:

ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 1 INCH WERE COMMON FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. SOME AREAS ALONG THE KENTUCKY BORDER…EAST OF I 65…HAD MORE THAN 2 INCHES. MOST OF THE TRAVEL PROBLEMS THIS MORNING ARE ON BACK ROADS…MAINLY NORTH OF I 40 AND EAST OF I 65.

HEAVIER SNOWFALL OCCURRED ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU. AREAS BETWEEN COOKEVILLE AND CROSSVILLE…AND NORTH TO JAMESTOWN HAD SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM 3 TO 5 INCHES…WITH LOCALIZED 6 TO 7 INCH AMOUNTS IN THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. MANY ROADS REMAINED SNOW COVERED ACROSS THE NORTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU.

The NWS Middle TN radar shows another batch of light to moderate snow pushing into the northwest corner of the mid-state (Dover, Erin, Waverly around 11:00 am). Many parts of Middle Tennessee will see additional snow showers between late morning and early afternoon. Temperatures are in the upper 20s on the Cumberland Plateau, but in the lower and middle 30s elsewhere. Watch out for slick spots as the wet snow falls, especially away from the busier routes. Through the early afternoon…you may see some sleet or cold raindrops mix with the snowflakes. Addition problems will develop later this evening and tonight as temperatures fall below freezing, eventually dipping to the lower 20s by Sunday morning. Backroads will be the biggest hassles.

Latest NWS radar image.

Current conditions in Tennessee.

Light snow, occasionally moderate, is moving across Middle Tennessee early Saturday morning. I’ve made calls west of Nashville (Montgomery Co., Houston Co., Humphreys Co., Hickman Co.) and have heard reports of a dusting on the ground. The air aloft is pretty cold, so this quick-moving batch of snow should be mainly light and dry. This early morning batch of snow will only last a couple of hours and will should clear the Cumberland Plateau by 9:00 am or so.

More posted in a little bit. In the meantime, we appreciate your snow observations in the comments. Thanks!

There are a handful of school closings and delays this morning. We’re waking up to flurries, but I think that the real problems are related to some icy spots on the roads (from the rain and subsequent falling temperatures last night). The map is current at 5:50 am (as I type) but you’ll want to check the list for the latest.

A huge winter storm is drilling much of the country with heavy snow (the same system is bringing rain to Middle Tennessee). 12″ to 24″ will fall in parts of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast over the next couple of days. As the system transitions into a Nor’easter, up to 36″ may pile up in parts of interior New England. I’m jealous.

Up to 1″ of new snow is expected this morning; we’ve had reports of a little more than that in a couple of spots.

Scroll down or click here to read Jeff’s morning forecast entry. Temperatures bottomed out in the single digits and lower teens around sunrise; typically our coldest time of the day. The sky is clear this morning and winds are generally light. Any breeze early today sent wind chills down toward zero degrees. Here’s a roundup of the unofficial low temperatures…

COOKEVILLE 7
CROSSVILLE 7
GALLATIN 8
LEWISBURG 8
MCMINNVILLE 8
SAVANNAH 8
HUNTINGDON 10
LEBANON 10
PORTLAND 10
SHELBYVILLE 10
TULLAHOMA 10
WINCHESTER 10
FAYETTEVILLE 11
LAWRENCEBURG 11
CLARKSVILLE 12
COLUMBIA 12
DICKSON 12
NASHVILLE 12
PARIS 12
SMYRNA 12
CAMDEN 15

Tennessee temperatures are down in the 20s and 30s, with wind chills colder still.

Canadian high pressure is anchored over the Central Plains; it’s ridiculously frigid in places like the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri this morning. Go ahead and check it out.

On cold mornings, I’ve found that light winds make it tough to tell the difference between temperatures in the 20s or temperatures in the teens. Cold is cold. When you wake up to teens below zero, it’s an entirely different story.

By the way, just noticed some light snow grains outside the station (my description for snow that’s “less-than-flurries” strength). Winter!

After a couple of crummy winters, it’s nice to remember the mid-state’s last big winter blast. The big winner was Gallatin with 8″ of snow, but downtown Nashville wasn’t far behind…

Click to view the snow totals map from January 16th, 2003 for all of Middle Tennessee.

Ice storm warnings extend from Central Illinois through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas (active warnings). Big power outages expected because of the ice. A few “highlights” from this big blast of winter…

1/2″ to 1″ of ice in Dallas-Fort Worth
1″ of ice in St. Louis
1″ of ice across Oklahoma

(1″ of ice will cause big problems because of the weight of the frozen water.)

6″+ of rain will lead to flooding in the Ohio River Valley and Mid-Mississippi River Valley
12″ of snow in Utah and Colorado mountains