Winter storm moving in faster; get ready for "snizzle"

This morning's red sunrise: a sign of trouble ahead?

Our winter storm is moving in faster than expected, with the first line of precipitation already moving through Southeast Missouri this morning. It's not clear how much of this wintry mix is reaching the ground, however.

Current trends suggest that the storm is every bit as strong as forecast, but the computer models keep nudging the track farther to the north. This means we could get less snow and more of everything else: sleet, freezing, plain old liquid rain, and even something called "snizzle."

The forecast discussion from the National Weather Service in St. Louis mentions the possibility that the tail end of the system Saturday night could produce snizzle, or "an intermittent mix of light snow and drizzle." I'm not sure if this is possible here, but it's something to watch for.

The Winter Storm Warning for Cape Girardeau County has been re-issued to start immediately this morning. The bulletin states that the warning area could see 3-6 inches of "heavy wet snow" along with a "light glaze" of ice accumulation.

Right now Cape Girardeau has a 70% chance of receiving at least two inches of snow accumulation:

...and around a 5% chance of getting 8 inches.

However, based on model trends, I suspect that this is going to be a frustrating storm for those who would like a big snow. We're probably going to be stuck with mostly rain, whether freezing or liquid. The axis of heaviest snow is likely to be well to the north between Jefferson City and St. Louis.