Warm And Muggy; A Few Showers

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HUGE CONTRAST: At 5:00 this morning Tuscaloosa is reporting 68 degrees, while in Montana the community of Jordan is reporting 17 degrees below zero. The leading edge of the very cold air is near the northwest corner of Tennessee, and is running out of gas. A large mass of rain and a few embedded thunderstorms is seen over parts of Arkansas and Tennessee, but this activity should slowly weaken in coming hours as the front is parallel to the upper air flow and runs out of gas.

IN ALABAMA: Today will be warm again, with highs in the 70s. The sky will be mostly cloudy, and we will maintain the chance of a few passing showers, and maybe even a thunderstorm in spots this afternoon. But, we don’t expect any severe weather, and rain amounts should be generally under 1/2 inch.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: Tomorrow is the big Thanksgiving eve travel day, and our weather won’t be much different. Warm and humid with highs in the 70s, and just the chance of a few widely scattered showers. Nothing really widespread.

Around the nation tomorrow, the west will be very cold and the mountains will be snow covered. We note blizzard warnings up for the mountains of Colorado and Utah, and snow will also be an issue to the north over Wyoming and Montana, where the brutally cold air stays in place. In the warm sector, showers and a few thunderstorms are likely from Texas through states like Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. In fact, a few severe storms are possible tomorrow in the general region from Tulsa to St. Louis just ahead of the Arctic front. The northeast U.S. will be cold and dry.

THANKSGIVING DAY: The day will will be warm again here in Alabama, and you will probably see a shower or two on radar, but nothing widespread as the forcing associated with the cold front stays to the northwest. Once again, we will be well into the 70s. Showers and storms will finally become more numerous late Thursday night, probably after midnight. There could be a few strong storms, but at this point we don’t expect a big issue with severe weather.

IRON BOWL: Temperatures will drop into the mid 40s Friday morning, and we will pretty much stay there all day with a chilly northwest wind. Light rain at times will make it a raw day. There is still a chance the rain will be over by the time the Alabama/Auburn game kicks off at 1:30 in Tuscaloosa at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but there is no guarantee as the models continue to show lots of post-frontal light rain in the cold air. I would strongly recommend taking the rain gear. Kickoff temperature should be near 47 degrees, dropping to near 44 by the final whistle.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: After a low in the mid 20s early Saturday, the weekend will feature a good supply of sunshine and warming trend. The high Saturday should be in the mid to upper 50s, followed by low 60s Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: Another good upper trough will bring a round of showers and storms early next week. Looks like the best chance of strong storms could be Monday night. Colder air follows for the middle of next week.

OUT IN VOODOO LAND: Everybody is buzzing about that GFS snow storm for North Alabama in the December 5-6 time frame, but that is all voodoo, and not worth one loaf or bread or even a milk chug.

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I am off to the Rick and Bubba turkey toss this morning in Montgomery… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

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