Merry Christmas. Here comes a blizzard.

I’m driving Maria to work and carrying a camera in case she needs another shooter. Early deadlines, so we hope to get home before the roads drift over – only two snowplows in the county. But we’re taking sleeping bags and air mattresses just in case.

From the National Weather Service office in Memphis:

Updated Dec 25, 2012, 9:30am CST

... BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM CST WEDNESDAY... ... WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 AM CST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

* VISIBILITIES AT TIMES DOWN TO LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... 6 TO 10 INCHES... WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS.

* TIMING... RAIN WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT.

* WINDS... SUSTAINED WINDS AROUND 25 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH.

* IMPACTS... SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES. TRAVEL WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS.

.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

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More Information

... BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO IMPACT PARTS OF THE MIDSOUTH FROM LATE TODAY... THROUGH CHRISTMAS NIGHT AND INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY...

.A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY ACROSS TEXAS WILL TRACK INTO THE MIDSOUTH BY THIS EVENING. RAIN WILL SPREAD OVER MOST OF THE MIDSOUTH THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. RAIN WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE TO SNOW OVER NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL LATE THIS AFTERNOON... BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO ALL SNOW BY EARLY EVENING. PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE NIGHT WITH THE ADDED POSSIBILITY OF AN INITIAL ICE PELLET MIX. IN ADDITIONAL TO THE HEAVY SNOW... STRONG NORTH WINDS GUSTING UP TO 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED... CAUSING SEVERE REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITIES... ALONG WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING CONDITIONS.