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Another Cold Day

| December 30, 2012 @ 7:14 am

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It is going to be another chilly day across Central Alabama. With the return of full sunshine, perhaps it won’t feel quite as cold, but the afternoon high is expected to reach only into the middle 40s. The average daily high for late December is 54.

The next weather system begins to take shape on Monday as a substantial trough develops across the Southwest US. That trough sets up a southwesterly flow pattern across the Southeast US with various pieces of that trough ejecting out across the US. This should bring a cold front into the region on New Years Day starting 2013 out on a wet note. Clouds will be increasing on Monday as moisture returns to the area. It looks like the rain will push south of Central Alabama on Wednesday, but there remains some uncertainty in the actual position of the frontal boundary when it stalls. The GFS and European are in fairly good agreement on giving us a dry day on Wednesday before the rain returns on Thursday. Should the frontal boundary stall out a tad further north, we might still see showers on Wednesday.

The trough axis finally shifts through the Southeast US on Friday bringing an end to the rain. Throughout all of this our temperatures remain at or slightly below seasonal values with highs in the 50s and lows generally in the 40s.

The strong southwesterly flow aloft will bring plenty of moisture to the area from the Pacific. Rainfall could be heavy at times on the first of January. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are likely for Central Alabama while southern Louisiana may see rainfall amounts of 3 to 3.5 inches. It does appear that we will end 2012 with a deficit in the rain department. That deficit varies a little across Central Alabama but stands slightly above 4 inches for Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Anniston.

By a week from today, another trough with a closed low drops into the Southwest US. This one is forecast to eject eastward around the 12th bringing another round of wet weather to the Southeast and a snow storm to the Central US. Ridging returns around the 14th, but I do note an absence of the broad long wave trough that we saw yesterday. So the voodoo progs have flipped on us again! What else do you expect from voodoo country! But the trend still remains that we will see a continuation of an active weather pattern.

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Thanks for staying tuned to the Weather Xtreme Video. James Spann will be back Monday all fresh and ready for 2013. You can catch my forecast on ABC 3340 at 5 and 10 pm this evening. Have a wonderful day and Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather

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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