Sunday, January 13, 2013

Life-Threatening Ice Accumulation Likely in Louisiana

A life-threatening ice event looks to be unfolding for Louisiana and Mississippi in the next 24 to 48 hours.

A departing storm system will bring cooler air behind it. Some of this cooler air appears likely to mix with the already-present warmer air and should infiltrate precipitation. When this happens, freezing rain is expected to occur and accumulate in Louisiana and Mississippi. As a result, many areas may experience life-threatening conditions, especially due to the typical lack of winter in the mentioned states.

If your car begins to spin out, or you plan on traveling during this event, follow these tips:

-Use front-wheel drive. Traction is increased as the weight of the car (including the engine) adds an enhanced grip to the tires.
-If you suddenly start skidding on ice, keep your wheel turned to the direction you want to go. It is not advised you steer towards the direction you are skidding.
-If you are in a skid, slowly lift the accelerator foot off of the accelerator. This lets the car go slower, and thus a smoother skid.
-If your wheels lock up when braking, pump the brakes gently to regain traction and control.

Andrew

3 comments:

Ray T. said...

Very good update. Not really enough icing to be simply labeld "life-threatening" in general, not enough ice to cause major damage or power outages, but with ice accumulation in excess of a quarter inch down there, it will make travel quite dangerous. They are not quiet as eqipped for ice as the northern areas are. So yes, life-threatening in terms of travel, not in general.

Anonymous said...

The 0.1-.03" are should be expanded a bit further east than what you are showing. The Winter Weather Advisory is as far east as Athens, AL, where up to a quarter-inch total ice accumulation is forecast. I'm a NWS forecaster in Birmingham. Good job on this outlook, it just needs to be updated.

Ray T. said...

You should also be aware that in a small area, across extreme southeast Arkansas, extreme northeast Louisiana and extreme western Mississippi could see as much as 0.75" ice accumulation, THAT is the area that is under the gun big time!