Jim Flowers has been forecasting snowfall all week and the white stuff is almost here.
Before the snow starts to fall, we asked KMTV Meteorologist Ryan McPike for the five things you need to know.
1. Rain and snow mix
Don't be fooled if you don't see the snowflakes immediately. Ryan says the system will start out as rain but quickly transition to snowfall, coming down heavy at times, throughout the evening commute.
2. Change time - 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Ryan says we can expect the change to frozen precipitation to take place between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday evening. Since the change is coming right as schools are taking kids home, some of them are putting early releases into effect. We have the list of current closings and releases updating in real-time here.
3. Evening drive could be messy
The only thing worse that being stuck in traffic on a Friday afternoon? Being stuck in traffic as snow starts to accumulate. Make sure you have those winter essentials stocked up in the car, have plenty of gas before you leave the office and leave some extra space between you and the car in front of you.
You can follow live traffic from KMTV here and we will post the latest traffic delays on Twitter at @OMATrafficAlert as they come in.
4. How much is coming? From broom to snow blower…
So how much snow are we really going to get anyway? Ryan says this system has a very tight gradient. That means while Gretna may only see an inch or two, areas to the north could see significantly more. The KMTV WeatherAlert team thinks we will see around three inches at the airport.
5. Cold weekend on the way
If you didn't get your fill on the winter stuff on Friday night, don't worry. Ryan said cold temperatures will push into the forecast just in time for the weekend. We could get down in the teens and our high will barely top freezing.
