Severe Weather Possible Today

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ACTIVE WEATHER DAY: Take the time to watch the Weather Xtreme video, which details the severe weather risk for Alabama today. Let me say up front the conditions in Alabama today will not be identical to the conditions in Oklahoma last night that were responsible for the big Lone Grove tornado that killed at least 15 people.

TIMING: Strong to severe storms should enter West Alabama at mid-morning, in the 9:00 to 10:00 time frame. They should be moving through the Birmingham metro area around the lunch hour, then impacting Anniston/Gadsden around 2:00 to 3:00. All of the storms should be east of Alabama by 6:00 p.m.

WHAT TO EXPECT: No doubt the main threat will come from a squall line (QLCS) with potential for damaging straight line wind. The strongly sheared environment could support a few isolated tornadoes. The RPM model continues to be a little more aggressive with surface based instability values (SB CAPE over 750 j/kg), so we will need to watch today’s events closely. Remember, when it comes to thunderstorms, expect the unexpected.

REST OF THE WEEK: The sky will clear quickly tonight, and sunshine returns in full force tomorrow with a high in the mid 60s. Should be a very nice day. Clouds return quickly, and periods of rain are likely Friday afternoon and Friday night.

OUR WEEKEND: That rain should move out of Alabama during the pre-dawn hours Saturday, and the sky will become partly sunny during the day Saturday with a high around 60. Sunday looks dry and a little cooler with a high in the mid to upper 50s.

NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: More rain is likely Tuesday of next week; and I still think we are in store for colder days during the last two weeks of the month as the NAO goes negative. No way of knowing details, of course, since that is in voodoo land.

STORM ALERT 2009: Thanks for everyone for coming out last night at Sylvan Springs United Methodist Church; we had a great crowd. Our show tomorrow night is in downtown Jasper at the CHS building at 7:00… hope to see you there.

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.

TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.

Stay tuned to the blog for updates throughout the day, and of course, if we have tornado warnings you can watch our live stream on abc3340.com or on TV. We will also have a live video stream from Storm Chaser 33/40 during the day as well here on the blog…

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