Warmer Days Ahead
An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
RIGHT NOW: One final lobe is rotating through the base of the big upper trough over the eastern third of the nation; the upward motion associated with that is squeezing out a few snow grains and sprinkles across Alabama, but the sky is clearing over West Alabama, and the clouds will be long gone by this evening statewide.
While our afternoon temperature forecast is working out fine for West Alabama, it is a bust for the eastern two-thirds of the state, where temperatures are only in the upper 30s (we had forecast mid 40s today). It is downright cold for March in Alabama, with Birmingham running about 25 degrees below our average highs for March 3 (we should be in the low to mid 60s this time of the year!).
WARMING TREND: Everything still looks good for the projected warm-up in the days ahead. Look for sunny days and clear nights through Sunday. We expect low 50s tomorrow, mid 50s Friday, mid 60s Saturday, and upper 60s Sunday. Somebody might even see 70 on their backyard thermometer Sunday afternoon.
NEXT WEEK: An intense low will develop over the Southern Plains Monday, and bring the threat of strong to severe storms to the ArkLaTex region Monday afternoon. The low should slowly fill/weaken as it moves to the east, but rain and a few storms seem likely for Alabama late Monday night into Tuesday. For now the projected dynamics and instability don’t suggest a major severe weather problem here, but that event is still a long way away. Drier air filters in behind the rain on Wednesday.
MID-MONTH: The GFS continues to advertise a mid-month cold snap, in the March 14-18 time frame, complete with a Gulf storm that could bring snow to parts of the Southeast U.S. This is all voodoo, of course, but certainly not out of the question. See the Weather Xtreme video for details.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. Scroll down for the show notes on this week’s new episode.
WEATHER CALL: Weather call is our new system that provides you and your family a great way of receiving severe weather watches and warnings. When a severe weather warning includes your location, you will receive a phone call from Chief Meteorologist James Spann, 24 hours a day. You can also receive the warning by email with a detailed map of the threat area. You may also use any of the email addresses to set up the warning to be delivered by SMS text messaging to your cell phone. Sign up on the web at abc3340.com.
I had a great time today visiting with the kindergarten students at B.B. Comer Elementary in Sylacauga; be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News. The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:48 pm
A March 14-18 cold snap with a gulf storm??? Alabama National Championship??? Sounds eerily familar……..
Disclaimer: I am very aware of this being voodoo land, but its still fun to ponder.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
A March 14-18 cold snap with a gulf storm?? Alabama National Championship??? Sounds eerily familar……
Disclaimer: I very aware that this is all voodoo, but its still fun to ponder.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Oh, wow. I didn’t think the first one went through….sorry
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Since I was skunked this last go around I thought I was going to have to give in and accept the inevitable fact that Spring was here and extreme heat with 100% humidity was right around the corner but it looks like we might have one last chance for some SNOW! I miss Denver but this winter has been a good one for ALabama. Keeping fingers crossed! I wonder how many times we will hear about the timing similar to the 93 storm between now and then. HAHA!
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Not sure how I feel about more snow. I’m ready for spring and I’ve got yardwork to do if it ever gets warm. However I can’t say I’d turn snow down, and I only NEED March 7 and march 27 to be nice for NASCAR and horse races.
March 3rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Bring on Spring!!!! No Snow! No Snow!
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Small snow flurry this afternoon around 3:15 at Mtn. Brook High School. Spring break is March 14-18. I never thought I would say this, but please, no more!
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I predict there will be another Alabama snow event before this winter is over. In fact, at the rate things are going, don’t be suprised if parts of the southeast gets an early April snowstorm, like April 1987.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I want to thank James Spann for visting BB Comer. My daughter was in the class and talked about it all evening.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:19 pm
My favorite season is Spring, with Winter a close second. I can take either S, Snow or Spring…
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Lets get on with the warm up. Spring is my favorite season. We dont need any snow to ruin spring break although I realize thats still way out there in voodoo land. Im ready to get out the shorts and t-shirts. Cold weather and winter season is depressing.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
I never thought I’d say this, but I am starting to get a little tired of the cold temps and snow and what have you. I’m getting kind of tired of this pattern we’ve been in too, where it’s cold and then warm for a few days….and then a little while later, it’s cold…then warm…and so on. It needs to just get warm…but not too warm. I’m not quite ready for the 70s just yet but the 50s, yep.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Thank you so much for this new alert system for severe weather. I had asked the question several weeks ago about what the deaf community is supposed to do in the event of severe weather since they can not hear the sirens and the station goes to no close-captioning during continual weather coverage. This new system of phone calls/emails/SMS messaging for severe weather will go a long way toward making sure that EVERYONE has access to this information. Thank you!!
March 4th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Oh you had Pulmonary Clinic buzzing. I walked in to clock out and Rita says, “James Freddie Spann says it’s going to snow on March 14.” (Freddie is one of the nurses too). I said, “Is that so? James always says you can’t count on a forecast 2 weeks out–it’s voodoo land.” So I asked Freddie if he got his information from this blog and he said he did, so I pulled it up and showed Rita where you indeed said, “This is all voodoo of course. . . ” They just take the least little thing and run with it, you know? But I’m with Teresa–Bring on Spring!!!!!