PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Good Wednesday morning everyone!
It’s a winter wonderland out the door but can be a dangerous one as well. Let’s be very careful heading outside this morning with icy conditions expected on that very first step out the door for most. Most driveways, walkways, sidewalks, porches, and decks will have a layer of ice on them early on this morning. So, be sure you have good tread on your boots and test the ground before walking as slip and fall accidents will be numerous today across NWFL.
Roads will be icy for the first few hours this morning as well. They’ll turn slushy by mid-morning and then we should manage to get some good melting during lunch and the early afternoon.
Temperatures only warm into the upper 30s today. By the late day we’ll see temperatures returning to the mid 30s and even low 30s by sunset.
If the ice melt doesn’t run off the road or evaporate during the 5-7hours of thawing today, then we’ll see a re-freeze tonight. That will likely lead toward black ice developing overnight and into Thursday morning, especially for non-treated roads or surfaces.
In general, it’s best to stay off roads as much as possible even if they do become somewhat manageable later today. Driving on the slush will compact the ice making it more difficult for the sun and temperatures to melt it. If you do have to drive, take it really slow, start breaking well in advance, and increase your following distance.
-It’s likely we’ll have another hard freeze tonight as well with inland temperatures down into the low teens to near 20 on the coast. There’s a good chance frost will develop as well and it most likely will be a beautiful form of hoar frost.
When temperatures meet the dew point below freezing hoar frost forms beautiful branch-like flowering ice crystals. Look for it on your home windows or on your car’s windshield if it’s parked out side either before sunrise or just after Thursday morning. If you wait too long to look for it in the morning, it’ll melt away as temperatures warm in a mostly to partly cloudy sky starting the day tomorrow.
There’s a decent chance that a lot of the snow, and what will eventually be all ice, on the grassy grounds doesn’t completely melt away today. In fact, I think it’ll probably take most of the day today and Thursday to melt completely, which will be longer than it will take for the roads to clear.
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