We Need Some Rain

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…

GETTING DRY: The rainfall deficit for Birmingham for 2007 is now up to almost six inches (5.93″)… and I am not really sure we see that much rain around here during the next seven to ten days.

RIGHT NOW: A few echoes are showing up on radar over Northwest Alabama, really nothing more than a few sprinkles. The main upper low is still well to the west; over far West Texas. This feature will slowly weaken, opening up into a wave, during the next 72 hours as it moves to the east. I really don’t think we see that much rain tomorrow; any showers tomorrow afternoon should be confined to the western third of the state.

Even Thursday doesn’t look too wet at this point; the 12Z GFS hints now that the best chance of showers will come late Thursday, Thursday night, and into early Friday morning. Hopefully we can get 1/2 inch of rain from this, but don’t hold your breath. Sure doesn’t look like a big rain event to me.

Showers should end by midday Friday, with gradual clearing Friday afternoon.

THE WEEKEND: The 12Z GFS looks pretty realistic for the weekend; it now suggests highs into the low to mid 60s Saturday and Sunday. The coldest morning will come early Sunday with mid 30s, and a light freeze is possible for the normally colder valley locations across North Alabama. The weekend will be rain-free.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: No doubt the trend for the rest of March will be for above normal temperatures and below normal rainfall for Alabama. No sign of any severe weather event during the next 16 days on the latest GFS, and that is great news.

SPRING BREAK: Don’t forget you can check out current weather from Gulf Shores anytime with our SKYCAM there on top of the Phoenix All Suites. Lots of folks out on the beach today; you can tell this is spring break for many Alabama students.

BLIZZARD OF 1993: I will write a few notes about the Blizzard of 1993 tonight; but you can go here and see lots of viewer pictures and stories we collected back in 2003 at the tenth anniversary of that historic snowstorm. Be sure and scroll down and read the posts on the blizzard by J.B. and Bill Murray.

WEATHER PARTY: Get all the latest weather news over on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. Be sure and register while you are there; you can submit stories and vote on them to determine what is published on the front page.

SPECIAL ABC 33/40 NOAA WEATHER RADIO OFFER: You can purchase a Midland NOAA Weather Radio at any Publix or Handy TV location in this part of Alabama for only $29.95. These receivers have the new digital technology that allows you to choose the counties for which the alarm sounds. Get more information here.

I sure enjoyed speaking to the third graders today at Glencoe Elementary… be watching for them today at 5:00 on the KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News. I am also going to put together a video using hundreds of still images I shot down in Enterprise yesterday… I will try to have them up on the blog by tomorrow. The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

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