Cold but Moderating

The latest edition of the Weather Xtreme Video is available here in the player below and on iTunes.

The midnight shift forecaster at the Birmingham NWS office certainly stated it well in the forecast discussion – “IF YOU HAPPENED TO BE SLEEPING DURING THE DAY YESTERDAY…YOU MIGHT NOT BELIEVE THAT IT ACTUALLY SNOWED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL ALABAMA.” And he’s right. But our viewers were great with sending pictures, so scroll down and take a look at the two movies I compiled from pictures sent in by viewers yesterday. I think the two movies together have something around 580 digital pictures. I had to break it into two parts due to size limitations.

Cold is certainly the word today. If you are north of a line from about Tuscaloosa to Calera to Auburn, you awoke this morning to readings in the teens. And while we will have lots of sun today, the temperature will struggle to get into the mid and upper 30s. So it is going to be just plain cold – a day to bundle up if you are headed outdoors. A high of say 39 would be about 14 degrees below typical highs for mid January. And it is also going to be very dry with dew points in the single digits.

Monday should start off dry, too, with a chilly start as lows dip into the teens again. But a good deal of sun and moderation of the upper flow with the cold trough zipping eastward should permit afternoon highs to reach a good ten degrees warmer than today.

Monday night should see clouds increasing with rain likely on Tuesday as a nice short wave trough moves quickly by in the fast flow in the upper levels. With that system zipping along, the rain should end Tuesday evening and I don’t think there is any threat of winter weather – just a cold rain.

A ridge Wednesday provides a good day but another upper trough on Thursday promises some clouds. There should be little moisture for this system to deal with, hence, just clouds and perhaps some drizzle or even a few snow flurries as this will be another cold trough.

By Saturday the upper level pattern goes southwesterly with the promise of much warmer weather and rain. It looks possible for a warm front to come northward out of the Gulf bringing some good rain chances with it. And the GFS solution certainly does not suggest any winter possibilities for Central Alabama, but it would be a very welcome rain event for Saturday and Sunday. Since the GFS solution involves a Gulf low, it always bears watching but does not appear to be a major concern at this time.

The longer range outlook remains progressive with weather systems about every two to three days. At the very end of the cycle, deep in voodoo country, the GFS is suggesting another Gulf low with cold air in place across the Southeast. However, it’s also showing the low pretty far south. And it is way into voodoo country.

Thanks for dropping by the Blog and catching the Weather Xtreme Video. I hope you have a great Sunday – just stay warm. God bless.

-Brian-

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