How to spot cold-related medical emergencies

TODAY, AND I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON THINGS. THOSE COLD TEMPERATURES, AND WE’RE JUST SAYING IT’S 32 DEGREES. IT’S STILL FREEZING OUT THERE. YES. AND IT FEELS COLDER. IT’S BEEN REALLY FUN TO WATCH THE MODEL TRENDS OVER THE PAST WEEK OR SO, OR REALLY EVEN LONGER THAN THAT. BUT LET’S LOOK AHEAD TO THE WEEKEND, FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. THAT’S WHEN WE’RE EXPECTING IMPACTS FROM THIS WINTER STORM THAT IS DEVELOPING SNOW, SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN ARE ALL ON THE TABLE. I WILL SAY THAT SNOWFALL IS LOOKING INCREASINGLY LIKELY ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AND ESPECIALLY OVER NORTH ALABAMA, BUT WITH A WARM LAYER ALOFT, WE COULD STILL SEE SOME SLEET AND THEN EVEN SOME FREEZING RAIN AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB A BIT AT THE SURFACE. LOOKING AT THE FORECAST GUIDANCE HERE, I THINK WE COULD SEE PRECIPITATION MOVE IN BEFORE DAYBREAK ON FRIDAY. IT’S GOING TO BE MOVING IN FROM THE SOUTH AND WEST AS THAT COASTAL LOW SLIDES ALONG THE COAST. YOU’LL SEE NUMBERS ARE BELOW FREEZING OR JUST NEAR FREEZING, ESPECIALLY TO THE NORTH. BUT WE START ABOVE FREEZING EARLY ON FRIDAY MORNING. SO INITIALLY MAYBE SOME RAIN, SOME SLEET MIXED IN WITH THAT. THIS BLUE LINE HERE IS THE FREEZING LINE. AND A RULE OF THUMB, ANYTHING NORTH OF THE FREEZING LINE IS TYPICALLY GOING TO BE SNOW. AS WE GO THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. I DO THINK THAT WE’LL SEE WIDESPREAD SNOW SPREAD ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH ALABAMA. WHEN I SAY CENTRAL, I’M KIND OF TALKING ABOUT THE I-20 CORRIDOR HERE BECAUSE SOUTH, IT LOOKS LIKE SOME COLD RAIN AS WE GO THROUGH THE REST OF FRIDAY. THIS FREEZING LINE WILL LIKELY SHIFT NORTHWARD AS WE GET THE UPPER LEVELS TO STEER A LITTLE BIT OF WARMER AIR THIS WAY, SOMETHING WE CALL THE LOW LEVEL JET IS SOMETHING THAT WE’RE WATCHING, AND SO IF THAT HAPPENS, SOME OF THIS MAY TURN INTO JUST A COLD RAIN. BUT FOR AREAS TO THE NORTH, I’M LOOKING AT IN COLEMAN HUNTSVILLE, THE SHOALS, MARSHALL COUNTY, GADSDEN YOU HAVE THE BEST CHANCE AT SEEING SNOW AND SEEING IT FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME ON FRIDAY, STARTING IN THE MORNING AND CARRYING US THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. SO WATCH THAT FREEZING LINE. THAT’S SOMETHING THAT WE’RE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO AS FAR AS IMPACTS GO. OF COURSE, WE ARE NOT ACCUSTOMED TO WINTER WEATHER HERE, SO THE IMPACTS ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A BIG DEAL FOR US. FOR NORTH ALABAMA, I THINK THERE COULD BE SOME TRAVEL ISSUES, DEFINITELY NOT SOME SPORADIC POWER OUTAGES ACROSS I-20. BIRMINGHAM TUSCALOOSA DOWN TO CALERA, CLANTON, ASHLAND, PELL CITY. MORE OF A SLICK ROADWAY SITUATION, ESPECIALLY ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. REALLY GOING TO HAVE TO WATCH THAT WINTRY MIX, JUST LIKE I SHOWED YOU A WHILE AGO. MODELS HAVE BEEN BACK AND FORTH. AND SO WHILE I DO THINK THAT WE’LL SEE SOME SNOW, SOME OF THAT COULD TURN INTO A WINTRY MIX AND THEN A COLD RAIN LATER IN THE DAY. THE FURTHER SOUTH YOU GO. WE’RE NOT GOING TO SEE MUCH SNOW, IF ANYTHING AT ALL. IT’S MORE LIKE A COLD RAIN. I DO WANT TO SHOW YOU SOME OF OUR MODEL GUIDANCE. WE DON’T ALWAYS DO THIS, BUT WITH THIS SETUP, I THINK THAT IT IS VALID TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW MODELS CAN CHANGE DRASTICALLY FROM RUN TO RUN AND FROM DAY TO DAY. BOTH THE GFS AND THE EUROPEAN MODEL ARE GIVING US A BIT MORE SNOW AND LESS ICE. I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE FOCUSED ON THE TOTALS JUST YET, BUT NOTICE THAT WE ARE SEEING A BIT MORE SNOWFALL IN THE FORECAST RATHER THAN ICE. THIS IS THE VIEW ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA HERE IN MIDDAY. IT’S QUIET, CALM, PRETTY COLD. WE DO HAVE THAT NORTH WIND STILL AT PLAY, BUT NO RAIN OUT THERE OR ANYTHING. THE SKY IS BRIGHTENING UP QUITE A BIT. 34 IN GADSDEN THE CLOUDS GRADUALLY CLEARING. WE ARE IN THE 30S AND 20S. 28 IN CULLMAN. BUT IT DOES FEEL SEVERAL DEGREES COLDER WITH THE NORTH WIND, AND IT’S GOING TO REMAIN CHILLY TODAY. SO IF YOU’VE YET TO STEP OUTSIDE, YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO BUNDLE UP. FEELING MORE LIKE THE 20S AND 30S TONIGHT. IT GETS COLD AGAIN QUICKLY UNDER A CLEAR SKY. THE WINDS ARE GOING TO BEGIN TO SUBSIDE. YOU’VE PROBABLY NOTICED THAT IT’S NOT AS BREEZY TODAY AS IT WAS YESTERDAY, AND AS WE HEAD INTO THE EVENING HOURS, IT’S IT’S GOING TO CONTINUE TO DIE DOWN. WAKING UP TOMORROW MORNING IN THE 20S, IT WILL BE VERY COLD FOR THURSDAY. AND THEN FRIDAY. THAT’S OUR IMPACT DAY. WE’RE EXPECTING SNOW, SOME SLE