The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered businesses, curbed progress in countless areas and stunted growth across the globe, but Auburn University’s Department of Aviation has weathered the storm and is flying high as another semester comes to a close on the Plains.
COLD DECEMBER DAY: While the sun is shining brightly this afternoon over parts of East and Southeast Alabama, the rest of Alabama is under a stubborn cloud cover with temperatures only in the 40-45 degree range. A few spots, like Cullman and Haleyville, are only in the upper 30s at mid-afternoon. The clouds will finally break up over all of Alabama tonight, and we will drop down to near the freezing mark early tomorrow morning.
Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores has received a 2020 Phoenix Award from the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW).
After the wet and mild night, we are seeing noticeably colder weather today, and the sky will gradually clear later this afternoon as drier air blows into the state due to blustery northerly winds of 15-25 mph.
At most Alabama barbecue joints, meat of the porcine persuasion is king. But at TexarBama BBQ in Fairhope, beef also has a strong claim to the throne.
COLDER, DRIER: A large mass of rain has moved out of Alabama early this morning; it brought rain amounts of one to two inches to much of the state. A small, brief tornado apparently touch down shortly after 1:00 a.m. in Southwest Jefferson County near the Hoover/Bessemer line knocking down some trees and power lines.
At 243 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from 6 miles west of Mars Hills to near Hillabee Creek. Movement was east at 50 mph.
At 238 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Dexter to near Sellers. Movement was east at 55 mph.
When the storms moved through Jefferson County earlier this evening, some damage occurred in the Lake Cyrus Community. Trees were reported down on Shades Crest Road… some of which fell on some homes.
At 210 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Ohatchee to Moriah. Movement was east at 50 mph.
At 140 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Wilsonville to near Parnell. Movement was east at 55 mph.
At 133 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Leeds to near Chelsea. Movement was east at 50 mph.
The risk for a brief QLCS tornado might persist for another hour or two in a narrow corridor across east-central AL.
While the line of storms were moving through Jefferson and Shelby counties, we had a quick rotational couplet show on the storm-relative velocity and correlation coefficient views on radar at roughly the same spot at approximately 1:05 am, just west of Hoover.
Our long time friend, mentor, and charter Weather Factory member, J.B. Elliott, passed away on May 11, 2015. Click HERE to read James' tribute.
