Warm December Days Ahead

The Wednesday afternoon Weather Xtreme video is available on the player below, and on iTunes:

Spring-like warmth will continue to headline our forecast for the next seven days. I see no reason why we won’t reach the low 70s on a daily basis trough early next week. This means afternoon temperatures will be about 15 degrees above normal for mid-December. Also, morning lows will stay well above the freezing mark in most places. And, in addition to being warm, the weather will be dry for a while. No chance of rain through the weekend.

NEXT WEEK: Still no change in the overall idea for the December 21-26 period, but no way of resolving details this far in advance. All voodoo, you know, for now. But, a pretty significant storm system should bring rain, and maybe a few strong storms, to Alabama Thursday December 21. Following this, a sharp change to colder weather is likely in the December 22-25 time frame. The 12Z GFS has backed off on the potential chill, but the European is still showing a full latitude eastern U.S. upper trough that should drop the temperature considerably just in time for Christmas to make Santa feel right at home.

I strongly recommend you don’t jump on run to run model differences at this time… just focus on the overall pattern concept.

After Christmas the weather should be milder as we approach New Years Day. But, there are increasing signs that a cross-Polar flow could be setting up for the beginning of January, which will bring the potential for a more significant and long lasting cold period for the Deep South.

WARMER WINTERS? I hear all the time from people that tell me they “can’t remember winters being this warm” in Alabama. We all tend to have selective memories. The only time we have reached 80 degrees in December was in 1951 (December 7). In December 1971, new record highs were established on three days when the mercury soared into the upper 70s.

Which year was our warmest January temperature recorded? The answer is 1949; on January 10 of that year we had a summer-like high of 81. The warmest weather ever in February came on February 8, 1918 and February 13, 1962 when we hit 83. That is some amazing warmth.

I will have the next Weather Xtreme video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow… enjoy the mild weather in coming days!

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