Snow Tomorrow, Then Arctic Cold

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RIGHT NOW: I see some single digit temps out there… our Skywatcher in the community of Broomtown (in Cherokee County) is reporting 7 degrees at 6:00… Ashby (in Northeast Bibb County) and Haleyville are at 9 degrees. Most spots are in the mid teens.

NO FORECAST CHANGES: Our ongoing forecast seems to be in great shape this morning, so no changes in our thinking concerning events in coming days. A light snow for North Alabama tomorrow, then the coldest air so far this season by Friday and the weekend. While there will always be surprises with any winter weather event in Alabama, I don’t think you will see too many forecast changes before things get underway tomorrow morning. Let’s keep the discussion in question and answer form this morning…

WHEN WILL IT SNOW? The main window for snow will be from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. The snow will begin initially over West Alabama, and spread east during the day. It will be fun to watch the SKYCAM network and our live streams from crews in the field and the skywatchers since this will be a daytime event.

HOW MUCH? See the Weather Xtreme video for our forecast graphic, but I have made no changes this morning. The best chance of 1 to 2 inches on the ground will be between a line from Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Anniston on the north (I-20), to a line from Demopolis to Billingsley to Alexander City to Lafayette on the south. North of Birmingham, we project a dusting to 1 inch (due to limited moisture), and to the south a wintry mix, with mainly a cold rain over South Alabama. For those of you in Montgomery, you remain right on the fence. You might see 2 inches of snow, or mainly a cold rain.

WHAT ABOUT DRIVING CONDITIONS? Soil temps are low, the highway infrastructure is cold, so we do expect slick spots on bridges and the roads over higher terrain as early as tomorrow afternoon, continuing tomorrow night into Friday morning. While we will stay below freezing through the entire weekend, evaporation will mean improving road conditions during the day Friday, and only isolated trouble is expected Friday night through the weekend.

WHAT ABOUT THE AIRPORT? We expect no major issues at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, but some delays are possible.

POWER OUTAGES? Remember, we are talking light snow here, and not ice, so no significant power outages are expected. However, we do note this morning 16,500 Alabama Power customers in Tuscaloosa, Pickens and Fayette counties are without power this morning; not sure why, but possibly due to the demand. As soon as we hear from Alabama Power we will pass it on…

SCHOOLS? Officials will make that call today, and we will post the closings on the main ABC 33/40 web site as we get information. We do know that Cullman County schools have decided to close tomorrow and Friday.

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME? The snow will be over by game time, and there will no crawls, maps, cut-ins, or anything else to get you angry, so hold that hate mail (I put this on the blog two days ago, but some of the local sports talk guys are still trying to stir the pot by spreading false information).

NEXT COMES THE COLD: I still think the biggest story is the Arctic air invading Alabama Friday and over the weekend. We are talking highs in the 20s on Friday and Saturday, with single digit wind chill values. We are still talking lows near 10 degrees Saturday and Sunday morning, and we will have to revise those numbers down a bit if we have some snow on the ground. With all the advance notice, hopefully everybody is prepared for this; it is good to see so many “warming centers” open around the state for those that do not have a good source of heat. The weekend will be dry with ample sunshine on Saturday and Sunday.

NEXT WEEK INTO VOODOO COUNTRY: The latest GFS looks dry through the middle of next week, but it has been very consistent in bringing in the next major storm system on January 15, mostly in the form of rain, followed by more cold air.

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We will keep the blog updated with fresh information throughout the day; the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day and STAY WARM!

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