Alabama 811 | Know What's Below.

Cooler Tomorrow; Some Rain At Times

| March 12, 2020 @ 2:51 pm

**No afternoon Weather Xtreme video today**

WARMEST SO FAR: The sky is partly to mostly sunny across much of Alabama this afternoon, with temperatures in the 75-80 degree range. Evergreen, in South Alabama, hit 82 degrees at 2p CT. As I write this, Birmingham’s high so far is 77; up until today our warmest temperature in 2020 came on February 12 when the high was 76. There is nothing on radar, and the weather will remain dry across Alabama through the evening hours.

TO THE NORTH: Severe thunderstorms continue to develop in a broad zone from Northeast Texas to Kentucky and Tennessee; SPC maintains an “enhanced risk” (Lebel 3/5) of severe storms in this region. A few tornadoes are possible there through tonight… possibly a strong tornado or two.

The storms will drift down into North Alabama late tonight, mainly after midnight. But, they should be weakening and there is just a low end, “marginal risk” (level 1/5) of defined for the Tennessee Valley. A few storms there could produce gusty winds, but the overall severe weather risk for North Alabama is low.

COOLER TOMORROW: Cooler air will slip into North Alabama. We start the day in the mid 60s, but temperatures will slowly fall, reaching the upper 50s by afternoon. Communities across the northern third of the state will slip into the mid 50s, a good 20 degrees colder than were we are today. The sky will be cloudy, and a few periods of light rain are likely.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday looks mostly dry; with a mix of sun and clouds we project a high back in the low 70s with only a small risk of any spot seeing a shower. Then, on Sunday, the sky will be occasionally cloudy with a few scattered showers possible. Sunday’s high will be close to 70.

NEXT WEEK: Mild, showery weather will continue. There will be some risk of showers on just about a daily basis; highs will be in the 70s. Still no signs of any flooding issues, or severe thunderstorm potential at this point.

And, we note the new CPC outlook for March 20-26 continues to show above average temperatures for the Southeast U.S.

But remember, we almost always have a late season cold snap in Alabama during the first half of April. High chance we are not done with freezing temperatures over the northern half of the state for the season.

ON THIS DATE IN 1993: The generational “Blizzard of 93” was underway. All 67 Alabama counties had measurable snow; winds gusted to nearly hurricane force on ridges with white out conditions, snow amounts of 1 to 2 feet were common over the northern half of the state, with drifts to 4 feet. There was a lot of eerie green lightning followed by the muffled sound of thunder during the peak of the storm. With the atmosphere overloaded with big snowflakes, part of the sound of thunder was absorbed. Some had no power for over a week. We forecast 6 to 16 inches of snow going into the event, but many didn’t listen since it was mid-March, the flowers were blooming, and the high on March 10, 1993 (two days before the blizzard) was 75.

The storm dropped 13 inches at the Birmingham International Airport, where the records are kept, and almost two feet of snow across parts of southern Jefferson and northern Shelby counties. The heaviest snow across the Southeast U.S. was recorded was at Newfound Gap, where U.S. 441 crosses the Tennessee and North Carolina border, with five feet.

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I enjoyed seeing the students today at Vestavia Day School at Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News! The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow….

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS

About the Author ()

James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.

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