Dry Today; Rain Returns Tomorrow

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MORE QUICK CHANGES: It is really hard to put together a string of sunny days in this kind of weather pattern. Today will be nice with a good supply of sunshine and a high in the mid 50s, but wet weather is lurking to the west.

TOMORROW/FRIDAY: A dynamic storm system is clearly showing up this morning on water vapor satellite images over Mexico, and that will bring yet another good soaking to Alabama tomorrow into Friday. The rain will begin during the day tomorrow, with the heaviest and most widespread rain coming tomorrow night into early Friday morning. Rain amounts of 1 to 2 inches are likely, with the heaviest totals, most likely, south of Birmingham. Probably not enough rain for flooding concerns, and we don’t expect any severe weather. Just a good rain event.

During the day Friday, the heaviest rain will move east of Alabama, but clouds will continue to blanket the state with a chance of some lingering light rain or drizzle at times. Temperatures will hover around the 50 degree mark Friday, perhaps falling into the 40s during the afternoon as cold air advection kicks in.

THE WEEKEND: Saturday will be colder, with a cloudy sky and some risk of morning drizzle. There could even be a few snow flurries up around the Tennessee border where the cold air will be deeper. Temperatures will hold in the 40s all day with a chilly north wind. Sunday will be brighter with returning sunshine, but still chilly with a high in the mid 40s.

NEXT WEEK: Our negative Arctic Oscillation begins to kick in next week, and the weather should be considerable colder. And, with the active southern branch of the jet stream, that sure sets up some interesting possibilities. A system early in the week has some potential to bring snow to parts of the Deep South Monday night, but there is absolutely no way to resolve that now due to pure model madness. Watch the Weather Xtreme video and you will see the vast difference between the GFS and the ECMWF. Using the ensemble approach, I think the best idea for now is to mention a chance of rain or snow Monday night, and we can fine tune that later. The 06Z GFS actually keeps all of the precipitation over far South Alabama.

VALENTINE’S DAY STORM? Watch the Weather Xtreme video to see the 2/14 storm showing up on the GFS that will make snow lovers happy. But, that is all voodoo as you know. The pattern, however, highly supports something like that. We will see.

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LIVE CHAT: We are now offering a real time chat here on the blog… open blog comments will stay in place, of course, but this will allow a more immediate method of communication for weather geeks. We do have moderators posted over there, so be sure and play nice. Members of our weather team will be there from time to time to answer questions; we will post those times we are available here on the blog.

STORM ALERT 2010 ROLLS ALONG: We had a great turnout at the Storm Alert 2010 show in Gadsden; our next show will be on Thursday, February 11 at Bevill State Community College in Sumiton, up in Walker County. You can meet the ABC 33/40 Weather team, see some amazing Alabama weather stories, learn how to keep your family safe this tornado season, and win some cool stuff. The show begins at 7:00; be sure and get there early to get a good seat. See the entire tour schedule here!

This morning I will be back in Etowah County doing a weather program at West End Elementary School in Altoona… I will be back in the weather office by early afternoon and the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30 or so. Enjoy the day!

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