The National Weather Service says parts of south Alabama could expect several inches of snow on Tuesday, and winter storm watches have been issued for many areas.

Light snow was falling on parts of north Alabama as of Sunday morning, but the weather service isn’t expecting widespread travel issues or accumulations. The second, more significant round of snow will be possible starting on Tuesday morning and will target southern Alabama.

Dangerously cold temperatures are expected statewide tonight and for the next few days, and an extreme cold warning has been issued for several areas.

A cold weather advisory will be in effect for most of the rest of the state.

Here are the key points from forecasters:

• Tuesday snow totals were still not a sure thing as of Sunday morning, but forecasters have increasing confidence that the southern half of the state will have to deal with winter precipitation starting on Tuesday morning and lasting into early Wednesday. Two to 3 inches of snow will be possible.
• North Alabama could miss out on the snow this time around, and the northern extent of the snow was still very much in question as of Sunday.
• Winter storm watches have been issued for all of south Alabama and the southern part of central Alabama. They will go into effect on Tuesday.
• Very hazardous travel is expected across the areas that get winter precipitation on Tuesday. Forecasters cautioned that it will take only a little snow for roads to become hazardous because of very cold temperatures in place. Roads could remain icy into Wednesday in some areas.
• Tonight and the next several nights will have dangerously cold temperatures. An extreme cold warning has been issued for several central Alabama counties, including the Birmingham metro area.

Here are the details:

The weather service said cold air continued to roll into Alabama on Sunday, and the coldest temperatures of the winter are expected tonight into Monday morning.

Tonight’s lows will range from the low teens in north Alabama to the mid-teens in central Alabama to the low 20s all the way to the Gulf Coast.

A few spots could see the single digits.

Here are tonight’s expected low temperatures:

Winds will make it feel even colder, with wind chills of 5 degrees below zero possible in parts of north Alabama, according to the weather service.

For that reason, the weather service has issued cold weather advisories for most of the state.

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Parts of east-central Alabama, including the Birmingham metro area, will be under an extreme cold warning, which means that dangerously cold wind chills are expected.

Very cold temperatures are possible during the day on Monday as well, with many locations staying below freezing all day.

Here are Monday’s forecast highs:

Another very cold night is expected on Monday night into Tuesday morning.

The weather service expects temperatures to again fall into the teens in north and central Alabama and the 20s well into south Alabama.

Here are Monday night’s low temperatures:

Tuesday is when the winter storm makes an appearance.

The weather service expects winter precipitation to begin in southwest Alabama late Tuesday morning and spread northward and eastward during the day on Tuesday.

The precipitation is expected to end late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

However, with cold temperatures still in place, whatever precipitation falls could hang around for a while.

Here are Tuesday’s forecast highs:

Here’s what the National Weather Service is expecting across Alabama:

SOUTH ALABAMA

• Winter storm watch from Tuesday morning through Tuesday night for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Escambia, Covington, Mobile and Baldwin counties. The National Weather Service in Mobile said total snow and sleet accumulations between 1 and 3 inches and ice accumulations around a light glaze will be possible.
• Cold weather advisory from 9 p.m. Sunday until 11 a.m. Monday for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Escambia, Covington, Mobile and Baldwin counties. Wind chills as low as 8 degrees will be possible.
• Cold weather advisory for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties from 9 p.m. Sunday until noon Monday. A hard freeze warning will be in effect for those same counties from midnight until 8 a.m. Monday. Wind chills as low as 14 expected tonight and air temperatures will fall as low as 24 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.

The National Weather Service in Mobile said on Sunday that confidence in winter precipitation for south Alabama continued to increase, but there were still big questions about what would be the main type of precipitation (snow, sleet, freezing rain).

“Ensemble guidance is all centering on a high chance (70-80%) of reaching, if not exceeding 2 inches across much of the area,” the weather service said in its Sunday forecast discussion.

“The real uncertainty lies in whether or not we see more of a wintry mix, which will bring the snow totals down, but increase the freezing rain and sleet accumulations.

“Either way, given the colder airmass in place ahead of the wintry precipitation, it won’t take as much for accumulations to occur on area roads.”

The weather service says the most likely time for winter precipitation to start is late Tuesday morning, with it coming to an end by sunrise Wednesday.

CENTRAL ALABAMA

• Winter storm watch from Tuesday morning through late Tuesday night for Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Greene, Hale, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Sumter and Tallapoosa counties.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham said light to moderate snow is forecast with total accumulations up to 3 inches possible.

• Extreme cold warning from midnight tonight until 11 a.m. Monday for Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Jefferson and St. Clair counties. Wind chills as low as zero will be possible in those areas.
• Cold weather advisory from midnight tonight until 11 a.m. Monday for Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Marion, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Winston counties. Wind chills as low as 2 degrees will be possible.

The weather service expects cold temperatures to last through much of the week.

Forecasters said probabilities for accumulating snow continued to increase across much of central Alabama Tuesday into Tuesday night.

“Our official amounts have changed somewhat, but impacts to roadways remain the same. With temperatures falling into the 10s and 20s Tuesday night, travel impacts could develop anywhere snow accumulations occur,” the weather service said.

NORTH ALABAMA

• Cold weather advisory from midnight tonight until noon on Monday for all of north Alabama. The National Weather Service in Huntsville said air temperatures will drop to between 8 and 12 degrees overnight and winds around 10 mph gusting to around 20 mph will make it feel as cold as 0 to 5 below zero.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville was getting reports of some snow in north Alabama as of Sunday morning. Any accumulations are expected to stay to the north of Alabama in Tennessee, however.

As for Tuesday’s winter storm, forecasters expect the bulk of the snow to stay to the south of the region, and no accumulations are expected.