A Nice Early Spring Saturday In Store

We are getting off to a chilly start this morning across North and Central Alabama. Readings are in the 30s and 40s across the area. It will be a beautiful day today with lots of sunshine and highs in the lower 70s. Get out and enjoy it. Lows tonight will be a little milder, in the middle and upper 40s.

NATIONALLY: Things are quiet this morning, with the exception of the major flooding across the middle of the country. There is a winter weather advisory of the Sierras of California, but that was seemingly been the case since December.

ON THE WEATHER MAPS: A little upper level ridge extends across the Gulf Coast this morning, providing the fine weather for today. The center of surface high pressure is beginning to slide east of the state, and moisture will begin returning later tonight. Meanwhile, an upper level disturbance will rotate out of the Plains and across the Ohio Valley Sunday and Monday. This disturbance will push a couple of rounds of showers our way. The first will fall apart tomorrow leading to only small chances of showers during the day. A better chance will come late Sunday night into early Monday as a cold front pushes our way. There will be a little instability by afternoon, and strong storms are not out of the question. But the morning clouds and rain may limit the chance. Sunday highs will be in the middle 70s. Highs Monday will be in the upper 60s to near 70F.

TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: Showers may linger into Tuesday, but drier and cooler air will infiltrate Alabama behind the front. Highs will settle back In the 60s. Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows will be the in the 40s. We should touch 70F by Thursday.

WEEKEND OUTLOOK: High pressure will give way to an encroaching cold front by the weekend, giving a chance of showers start late Friday and continuing through the weekend and lasting until April Fool’s Day, when a strong low pressure will bring rain and a chance of severe storms.

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN FOR INDYCAR AT BARBER: The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will be April 5-7 at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park! Make plans for the event that has been voted “Best Annual Event” & “Best Sporting Event” in Birmingham. Kids 15 & under are admitted free with a ticketed adult, and three-day general admission tickets are $69. Single day tickets are as low as $15. Pack a picnic/cooler and bring the family out for a weekend full of activities and racing! It’s way too early for a specific forecast, but long-range models are trending for a dry Saturday and Sunday at the track, but Friday looks to be a little wet. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

GULF COAST WEATHER: Nice week to be at the beach. A little cool at midweek, but lots of sunshine. The best rain chance will come Monday night into early Tuesday, with a few showers returning by the weekend. Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page.

WEATHERBRAINS: This week, the panel will entertain the indomitable Chuck Doswell! Always entertaining and enlightening! Check out the show at www.WeatherBrains.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes. You can watch the show live at live.bigbrainsmedia.com You will be able to see the show on the James Spann 24×7 weather channel on cable or directly over the air on the dot 2 feed.

ON THIS DATE IN 2014: It had been 294 days since the NWS Norman issued a tornado warning. That was a new record for the longest tornado warning-free stretch at their office. Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am @wxhistorian at Twitter.com.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS