Some Mid-Week Rain, Then Cold

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BLOG FORMAT: Bill Murray has been working hard on a new blog format that will be better for all of us… understand we still have some adjustments ahead, but let us know if you like it or not. We opted to change the theme on a day when the weather is pretty calm. Note the Weather Xtreme video will now always be displayed in the right sidebar of the blog… you can play it from there, and make it full screen if you want. We won’t be inserting the video in the individual posts anymore.

CHANGES AHEAD: No doubt we will have some mid-week rain, but there remains considerable disagreement on just how much rain we see. The RPM and the GFS are pretty dry… the GFS is printing only 0.19″ through 60 hours, while the NAM is more aggressive, showing 0.51″. The heaviest rain should be over far Southwest Alabama, closer to an upper low that will be forming over the upper Texas coastal plain tonight.

The rain could begin as early as tomorrow afternoon, but it will be more likely tomorrow night and Wednesday. The rain won’t be continuous, we don’t expect any thunderstorms, and the amounts over East Alabama should be very light. In fact, some places might not see enough rain to measure over the eastern third of the state.

Showers will end very early Thursday as drier air begins to push in from the north.

END OF THE WEEK CHILL: The coldest air so far this season invades Alabama Friday. The 12Z GFS places the upper trough axis a little east of here, suggesting a high only in the low 50s with a very cool north wind of 15 to 25 mph. The wind will die down Friday night, and by daybreak Saturday most places will be at or below freezing, our first widespread freeze of the season.

We note you will need a pretty heavy jacket for the first round of the high school playoff games Friday night, with temperatures falling through the 40s and into the 30s by the end of the games.

THE WEEKEND: Lots of sunshine Saturday and Sunday, with potential for another freeze early Sunday morning. The high Saturday will be in the upper 50s, followed by low 60s Sunday. Dry weather continues into early next week.

VOODOO LAND: Still no sign of any severe weather issues through mid-month based on the 12Z GFS… see the Weather Xtreme video for details.

TROPICS: Tomas is a weak tropical storm in the Caribbean, but still has some potential to regain minimal hurricane status as it turns north toward Haiti late this week on Friday. Again, see the video for complete details… Tomas won’t impact the U.S. mainland at all.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. We will record this week’s show at 8:30 p.m. CDT tonight… you can listen/watch live on uStream here.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

I had a great time today visiting with the 2nd graders at Woodland Forrest Elementary in Tuscaloosa… 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 bright and early tomorrow morning by 7:00 a.m….

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