Night owls and early risers could witness a rare pre-Christmas snowfall Dec. 5, as the National Weather Service is forecasting an overnight “dusting” of the area.

Snowfall could begin between midnight and 6 a.m., and likely will not be very heavy, according to Weather Service Meteorologist Jim Westland.

“We are expecting it to be a quick-hitting kind of system sometime after midnight and before 6 a.m.,” Westland said. “We are talking maybe enough to coat the grass, but probably not much more than that.

“People may have to either stay up late or get up really early to see anything,” Westland added. “We don’t expect any driving hazards or anything.”

The snowfall would be the first to hit Shelby County since an early March snow blanketed the area for several hours.

Because the forecasted snowfall is not expected to he heavy, local supermarkets are not expecting large crowds Dec. 4.

“We will stock a little more milk and a little more bread, but I don’t think it will be too bad,” said Wayne Johnsey, general manager of Piggly Wiggly in Columbiana. “We may have a few more people, but I don’t see there being a huge rush or anything.”