March 5, 2013, 11:30 PM Storm Throws A Curve Ball

All storm total accumulations have been increased across the board.  Snow has started to fall around the region...many hours earlier than anticipated.  A solid band of moderate precipitation moving up from the southwest is the cause.  Initially, rain falling through a very dry air layer about 5,000 feet thick has evaporated vigorously, chilling the air to freezing...changing rain to snow.    Most meteorologists, myself included, were surprised by this early and rapid transformation. 

The snow band is shown below:

The new snow totals from NWS Sterling, showing a significant increase in snow totals to 8"-10", at 11 PM:

In the battle of temperature in this storm, it appears that more snow than rain will be the rule across much of the region.    The storm is proving to be very efficient at manufacturing its own cold air supply.