FORECAST: Southern-track storm to PACK A PUNCH. Winter in FIRM control.

Winter Storm Warnings have been posted from the Panhandle of Texas to the Delmarva Penninsula on the Mid-Atlantic Coast. In addition, Warnings have been posted all across Dixie from Dallas, TX to Charlotte, NC and then north through the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys. Beyond that, Weather advisories have been posted from Indianapolis, IN to El Paso, TX and from Kansas City, MO to Macon, GA.

The second MAJOR Winter Storm in a week is already blasting parts of the Southern Plains with very heavy sleet and snow tonight and is expected to expand eastward overnight and into the weekend. Low pressure looks to initially develop over Eastern TX before moving quickly to the east across the Gulf Coast before exiti the Carolina's to start the weekend.

Here's a look at the latest run of the Hi-Res NAM showing "future radar" over the next couple days showing the wintery mix all the way into the Deep South and a LARGE plume of accumulating snow that extends well north into parts of the Midwest.

So how much snow?

As explained in previous posts, Central AR, NE TX and SE OK look like the bullseye for this storm with some areas expecting to pick up close to a FOOT of heavy wet snowfall.

Further east, a large area of 5 - 10" snow amounts can be expected across Northern Dixie and into parts of the Apalachians. Further north and east, a MASSIVE area of approx 3 - 5" snowfall amounts looks like into much of the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys. Lesser amounts on the 1 - 3" range can be expected eslwhere across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.

So what do I think?

While this won't be as heavy a snow for the Ohio Valley, it will add insult to injury keeping the region locked into a pretty brutal mid-winter pattern. Snowfall totals across the South will be the heaviest in several winters in most cases and no doubt will cause a travel mess for many.

Looking further out, the cold looks to stay locked in for the majority of the remainder of the month of January with plenty more opportunities for snowfall to come.