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Gorgeous Saturday, Warmer Sunday

| April 1, 2017 @ 7:04 am

Starting your Saturday out on a somewhat coolish note with temperatures across North and Central Alabama in the 40s this morning. The 30-year average low for the first day of April is 47, so while cooler than recent days it doesn’t really qualify as cold. Our SkyWatcher at Black Creek reported 40 this morning for the cool spot in the state, but it was also cool at Concord and Weaver with lows of 45. Satellite image this morning paints a clear picture for the Southeast US so look for lots of sunshine but the afternoon highs will stay about as expected for early April with highs in the middle 70s.

Sunday looks like another great day for Alabama, but we will see more clouds as the next system begins to crank up west of us. SPC has a moderate outlook for Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana for Day 2, Sunday into early Monday, as a surface low develops over Southeast Texas with an strong upper trough coming out of northern Mexico. A return to southerly flow should push highs Sunday into the lower 80s.

Monday is going to be a stormy day for Central Alabama once again as the overall weather pattern remains active and fast. The upper trough and closed low push into the Lower Mississippi River Valley by midday on Monday as the surface low moves into Arkansas. The GFS is suggesting we might see a repeat of the pattern we saw on Friday with a large thunderstorm complex along the Gulf Coast interfering with the development of severe storms further north. For now, SPC has the standard slight risk covering the southern three-fourths of Alabama along with portions of Georgia, Florida Panhandle, and Southeast Mississippi. As we saw on Friday, the details always comes in the mesoscale, so we will need to maintain some vigilance on the severe weather threat for Monday with the knowledge that the biggest threat may stay south of us. Clouds and showers will hold temperatures down on Monday with highs in the 70s.

An upper ridge makes an appearance on Tuesday, so it will be dry and sunny with highs sticking in the 70s. Another strong trough over New Mexico on Tuesday will make its way eastward on Wednesday with a surface low over Missouri. The trough and surface low move northeastward into Thursday, so it looks like we could see a round of severe storms Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. The GFS is producing forecast CAPE values to remain high along the Gulf Coast, so we might see the severe weather threat again pinched off for us and remaining over the southern portion of the state. SPC notes the potential for severe weather over the Southeast US in their Day 4-8 discussion, but they do not outline a specific 15 percent area just yet.

Rainfall for the next five days with two separate systems could amount to totals between 1.5 inches and 3 inches with higher amounts possible across South Alabama.

The latter part of the week ahead, Friday and Saturday, will feature a fairly deep trough along the East Coast of the US putting us into a cool northwest flow pattern. While the weather is expected to be dry, it will be somewhat cool as lows dip well back into the 40s and afternoon highs in the range from upper 60s to lower 70s, all below seasonal averages.

Warmth returns on the 10th of April with an upper ridge moving over the eastern third of the country. Traveling systems remain well north of us on the 12th but work to beat down the ridge. A strong trough around the 15th of April promises to bring active weather to the eastern US with another substantial chill down. This pattern looks pretty chilly, bu8t you know how it is when we look out into voodoo country.

Weather at the beach looks good for the weekend with highs around 80 and lows in the 60s. Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page. Save Up To 25% on Spring Break Beach Vacations on the Alabama Gulf Coast with Brett/Robinson! The Beach Forecast is partially underwritten by the support of Brett/Robinson Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Click here to see Brett/Robinson’s best beach offers now!

The ABC 33/40 Weather Authority team will be on the road through early April offering free storm spotter classes. We need more trained spotters in Alabama. By attending, you can make the severe weather warning process better. No need to register, just come with a curious mind. There is no age limit. Kids that love weather will enjoy it. You will never look at a storm the same again. Next week, the team will be at Tuscaloosa on Tuesday at Shelton State Community College ay 6:30 pm, and at the BJCC, North Meeting Room C-1, on Saturday, April 8th, for all-day basic and advanced training, starting at 9:00 am.

Don’t forget you can listen to the weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including meteorologists at ABC 33/40. Shows are usually produced on Monday evenings starting at 8:30 CDT. You can watch it live here.

I expect to have the next Weather Xtreme Video posted here around 7 am on Sunday. Stay tuned to the blog for updates on the Alabama weather scene. Enjoy this gorgeous day and Godspeed.

-Brian-

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About the Author ()

Brian Peters is one of the television meteorologists at ABC3340 in Birmingham and a retired NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist. He handles the weekend Weather Xtreme Videos and forecast discussion and is the Webmaster for the popular WeatherBrains podcast.

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