Big snowstorm, severe thunderstorms if traveling to or from Florida; Tips to avoid storm

It seems like the next four days are popular days for Michiganders to drive to or from Florida. There is a snowstorm you need to know about, as it’s not a storm in which you will want to be caught.

The main thought is there will be a snowstorm in Kentucky, Tennessee, the Virginias, northern Alabama and northern Georgia. The snowstorm will somewhat extend northward into Ohio and Indiana.

The snowstorm is sometime Friday through Friday night and into Saturday.

If you don’t want to read anymore, the most important tip is get to Atlanta by 8 p.m. Friday. You would be six hours ahead of the storm. If you don’t want to cut it that close, get to Atlanta during the day Friday.

Here is the radar forecast. You’ll get a great vision that it’s not a storm you’ll want to be driving in through Kentucky, Tennessee and adjacent areas.

Let’s break up the snowstorm into pieces so you know when you have to be past a certain area.

The first snowfall forecast is the Friday snow through 7 p.m. If you leave Michigan on Friday afternoon, you will be driving through the first part of the storm and one to three inches of snow in Ohio and Indiana. Now we are used to driving in that amount of snow in Michigan, but it slows you down. The problem then is it slows you down enough that the second heavier snow swath will get you in Kentucky and Tennessee.

By late Friday evening, the snow continues to pile up over Indiana and Ohio and starts to accumulate in western Kentucky and western Tennessee.

If you had planned on driving through Kentucky and Tennessee midnight Saturday to sunrise Saturday, you will not be happy. That six-hour period could have three to five inches along the entire routes of I-75 and I-65 of Kentucky and Tennessee. Let’s sum this up so you get the strong hint from me: nighttime in the hills with heavy snow.

Sunrise Saturday to late Saturday afternoon will have another several inches of snow falling across the I-75 and I-65 paths through Kentucky and Tennessee. Saturday won’t be a day to drive through Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia. This also means if you have the idea of taking the scenic route through West Virginia, don’t do it.

Most of the snow will be done by mid-afternoon Saturday, but temperatures will quickly drop into the 20s after the snow. This isn’t a snowstorm where the roads will instantly improve right when the snow ends. You’ll have to wait until late morning Sunday before temperatures get into the 40s and make fast work of melting the snow on the roads.

It’s not just a snowstorm. There could also be a severe thunderstorm outbreak on the south side of the storm. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined where severe thunderstorms are possible Friday night and Saturday morning.

Here is the radar forecast at 3 a.m. Saturday. Remember that severe weather in the southeast U.S. is very different from our severe thunderstorms here in Michigan. We need the heat of the day, so most severe thunderstorms occur in the afternoon and evening. The southeast U.S. has many of its most dangerous tornadoes in the middle of the night.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you to not drive through Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Virginias the second half of Friday night or Saturday.

My simplest advice is get to Atlanta, Georgia by 8 p.m. Friday. Anytime after that and you are asking for travel troubles.

If you are driving back to Michigan from the south, get to the Michigan border by 6 p.m. Friday. You’ll be okay, but may run into an inch or two of snow in northern Ohio and northern Indiana. A better idea is stay in the warmth another day and don’t get to Tennessee until noon Sunday. Temperatures will warm into the 40s in the whole snowstorm swath by early Sunday afternoon, and you’ll have no problems.

I’m hoping for a safe drive for you, and lots of relaxation and fun.