A Good Soaking This Weekend

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BLIZZARD ANNIVERSARY: Scroll down for some memories of the great Blizzard of 1993… today is the 16th anniversary.

BENEFICIAL RAIN AHEAD: Today still looks generally dry across Alabama; the weather will be mostly cloudy and cool with only light and spotty rain. The high will be somewhere between 55 and 59 for most places, although South Alabama will be much warmer. The big story is the rain event that will begin tomorrow.

A stalled front, a southwest flow aloft, and ultimately a surface low along the front will bring periods of rain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with potential for 3 inches of rain for much of North and Central Alabama. Severe weather is not likely due to stable air near the surface, and we don’t expect the rain to be heavy enough at any one time for serious flooding issues. Just a good, beneficial rain event that just happens to come over the weekend.

TO THE NORTH: Winter weather advisories are up for parts of North Arkansas and Northwest Tennessee where freezing rain, sleet, and a few snow flakes are expected later today and tonight. Most of the icing issues should be north of I-40.

NEXT WEEK: The 00Z GFS now brings drier air into Alabama Sunday night, and if that is correct we are looking at dry and relatively pleasant weather for next week with seasonal temperatures. We do note the ECMWF develops a long wave upper trough over the eastern U.S., which could suggest colder weather, but one way or another the week looks dry.

AT THE BEACH: A few widely scattered showers are possible along the Central Gulf Coast today, but most places will stay dry with a few peeks of sunshine. Scattered showers and storms will be around tomorrow and over the weekend, perhaps lasting into Monday. Then, drier air returns Tuesday with a mostly sunny sky, and the rest of next week should be dry in the general area from Panama City westward to Gulf Shores. Along the immediate coast, afternoon highs will be in the mid to upper 60s, with 70s inland. The sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab last night was 64.8 degrees (F).

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.

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SPECIAL ABC 33/40 NOAA WEATHER RADIO OFFER: You can purchase the WR-100 Midland NOAA Weather Radio, the best selling model in the nation, 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. Every Alabama home and business needs one!

Today I will be doing a weather program at Noah’s Park Learning Center in Pelham… the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30. Enjoy the day!

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