Saturday Weather Xtreme: Boring, But We Will Take It

National Weatherpersonâ??s Day. February 5. Holiday concept. Template for background, banner, card, poster with text inscription. Vector EPS10 illustration

Today is National Weatherperson’s Day. The day honors people in the fields of meteorology, weather forecasting, and broadcast meteorology, as well as volunteer storm spotters and observers. February 5th is chosen because it is the birthdate of John Jeffries. He was born on this date in 1744. He was a loyalist doctor during the Revolutionary War who kept some of the earliest detailed weather records in the American Colonies.

CONGRATS TO KEN GRAHAM: The Director of the National Hurricane Center was named the National WeatherPerson of the year by FLASH.

FIRST TORNADO FATALITY: Well, our state produced the first U.S. tornado fatality of 2022. That fatality occurred in the EF2 tornado that struck Thursday afternoon near Sawyerville in Hale County. The tornado cut a nearly 26-mile path across Greene and Hale Counties. The tornado struck Sawyerville around 2 p.m., meaning there was a full 10 minutes of lead time with the tornado warning, and the upstream warning for Sumter and Greene Counties gave an extra 42 minutes on top of that.

CHILLY START: it is a cold morning across North Central Alabama, with temperatures in the middle 20s. Some of the normally colder spots in North Alabama might actually be down into the high teens. A gusty north wind is making it feel colder. That wind will die down this morning, but despite full sunshine, the mercury will not recover very well. Highs across the north will struggle to reach 40F, while readings across Central Alabama will top out only in the mid and upper 40s.

BORING WEEK AHEAD: We will take boring in place of the severe weather we saw earlier this week. Persistent trofiness will cover the eastern United States, including Alabama, keeping us generally dry and cool. A shortwave trough swinging through Thursday night and early Friday may find just enough moisture to wring out a little light rain across the area, but amounts will be light. Temperatures will be cool all week, but next Saturday should see readings in the 60s again.

VOODOO TERRITORY: Out at the end of the period, the GFS is hinting at a strong storm system moving out of the Plains on Thursday the 17th into Friday the 18th. This one has a severe weather look about it, with a deep, negatively tilted trough and strong low pressure over Missouri. Early indications are that there could be a decent amount of instability with this system and the wind fields could be quite strong. It will be one to keep an eye on as we go through time.

BEACHCAST: A benign week of weather along the beautiful beaches of Alabama and Northwest Florida. There could be a few light showers Sunday night, but otherwise dry and cool, just like here. Highs will be in the 50s and lows in the 30s and 40s through midweek. Highs will edge by in the 60s just in time for the weekend. Water temperatures are in the middle 50s.

Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page.

NATIONALLY: Not much going on early this morning. Freeze and hard freeze warnings across Texas, with readings this morning are in the upper teens around the DFW Metroplex. But nothing like last February in the Lone Star State, thank goodness. A good bit of wind over the northern Rockies. Some snows across the Upper Midwest and across the Alleghanies. Some leftover snows across northern New England as well. Just saw a report of 16.1 inches of snow near Burlington VT.

DANCING WITH THE STATS: 11.4 inches of snow at Bangor ME yesterday was a record for the date, breaking the old record of 9.6 inches.

ADVERTISE WITH US: Deliver your message to a highly engaged audience by advertising on the AlabamaWX.com website. The site enjoyed over 28 MILLION page views in the past 12 months. Don’t miss out! We can customize a creative, flexible, and affordable package that will suit your organization’s needs. Contact me, Bill Murray, at (205) 687-0782, and let’s talk.

WEATHERBRAINS: This week, the panel will entertain Dr. Kandis Boyd, a pioneering meteorologist. Check out the show at www.WeatherBrains.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes. You can watch the show live at live.bigbrainsmedia.com or on James’ YouTube Channel 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 1744: John Jeffries was born on this date. He was a loyalist doctor during the Revolutionary War who kept some of the earliest detailed weather records in the American Colonies. We honor his memory by dedicating February 5th as National Weather Person’s Day. Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am @wxhistorian at Twitter.com.

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