Less snow expected for Poplar Bluff under new Friday winter storm predictions

Residents of Butler County may see little accumulation out of a possible winter storm expected to track through the area late Friday and early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Current models show from 1-3 inches possible for the county, with around 2 inches possible specifically for Poplar Bluff, said meteorologist Ashley Ravenscraft of the Paducah office.

“That number could change,” she cautioned. “Looking at the latest trends, it’s looking like we might get more rain than snow. That accumulation number could come down.”

Public safety organizations and officials will meet Friday morning to hold a conference call with the NWS’s Paducah office for the most up-to-date information, said Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers.

Snow could start in the late afternoon to overnight hours Friday and transition to rain on Saturday, Ravenscraft said. Poplar Bluff may see some snow after the rain, on the back edge of the system. The second bout of winter precipitation is not expected to bring much snow, and may only be flurries, she said.

A low pressure system coming out of east Texas is currently expected to track more north after the last 24 hours of monitoring, she said.

“If that trend continues, our snowfall amounts, especially around the Poplar Bluff area, might decrease,” Ravenscraft said adding, there is a low chance the system could move more south and increase accumulation amounts. “Our confidence is fairly high there might be at least some snow on the front edge, late (Friday) and overnight.”

Every potential event is treated seriously, Myers said Thursday morning.

“Weather, as we’ve seen, can change. Anytime there’s a system that has some potential danger, it’s a good practice for us, all sectors that deal with safety, to get together and review how we would interact on those,” he said. “Even if this event doesn’t turn out to be anything of great significance, we know there are events right around the corner.”