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A major winter storm system is developing across the midwestern U.S. that could cripple several major cities like Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, and Boston over the next 48hrs with freezing rain and snow as deep as 2 ft!  Blizzard Warnings (hilighted in red) have been issued from Oklahoma City to Chicago.

This same storm system is forecast to bring a slight risk of severe weather to parts of the south Tuesday afternoon  and evening.  This area of severe risk includes the western part of the Florida panhandle.  As this system develops it will move NE and away from us.  As that happens the bulk of the energy will move away from us as well.  The exact track will eventually determine how much if any severe weather we see.

The CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) will be low over our area so there will not be a lot of instalbility....

But the 'spin' or what we know as Helicity will be fairly high and may be enough to support some severe storms.  That said notice in the two pictures below that the helicity is higher at 6pm Tuesday and less at midnight as that low pulls away.

As this system pulls away and the squall line weakens... ranfall totals are expected to lessen as well.  Right now I am expected 1" of rain toward Okaloosa county and about .25" of rain toward Liberty and Franklin counties.

Regardless, stay tuned to the VIPIR 7 Weather Team for the very latest on this storm system as it develops on Tuesday.

A couple other notes of interest...

If you are planning to fly over the next few days do not expect it to go smoothly.  You can keep up with airport delays on our website...  http://ww.wjhg.com/weather

Also, this is Severe Weather Awareness Week here in Florida.  We will cover each topic each day...  today's topic was lightning, tomorrow is marine hazards, Wednesday is tornadoes and thunderstorms, Thursday is Hurricanes and Flooding, and Friday is Wildfires and temperature extremes.  SWAW

Have a safe week and see you on TV!!!  If you ever have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail me!

--Chris Smith
Chief Meteorologist
chris.smith@wjhg.com