A Big Warm-Up Today

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Quite an inversion across our state this morning. As a good example, the Gadsden SKYCAM, atop Lookout Mountain, is showing 38 degrees, while the Gadsden Airport is reporting 21. That 17 degree spread is a another great example of why this is not a “one number” kind of place on a clear, calm morning in the cold season.

BIG WARM-UP: Despite the cold start, we will warm up quickly this morning; we will be in the low to mid 60s this afternoon with a good supply of sunshine through scattered clouds.

TO THE WEST: A significant storm system will move out of the Rockies today, and will bring our next rain event to Alabama within the next 36 hours.

Rain should move into West Alabama tomorrow afternoon, becoming widespread tomorrow night. The NAM is printing 0.43″ with this system, while the GFS prints 0.41″ for Birmingham. Not exactly a big time rain event, but we will welcome it. The dynamics suggest a chance of thunderstorms with this event, but severe weather looks very unlikely due to the lack of instability. The primary window for rain will come from about 3:00 p.m. tomorrow through 3:00 a.m. Wednesday.

Wednesday will be dry and cool with a sunny sky; parts of North Alabama will have a hard time getting out of the 40s, however.

ANOTHER RAIN EVENT LATER THIS WEEK: Another strong system is due in here Thursday night. The rain could begin Thursday afternoon, but at this point it looks like the main show will be from about 6:00 p.m. Thursday through 6:00 a.m. Friday. This system should be a wet one, bringing over one inch of rain to much of Alabama. The dynamics will be impressive, but the thermodynamics are only marginal, like so many early season weather systems to impact Alabama. SPC has a severe weather risk over about the southern two-thirds of Alabama, but I am not convinced severe weather will be an issue with no significant surface based CAPE. No doubt there will be thunderstorms, but they might be mainly elevated.

WEEKEND PEEK: For the first time in two weeks, we might be able to sleep a bit Friday night. No winter weather issues this time; the weekend will be dry with comfortable afternoons but chilly nights.

LONG RANGE: Another big storm system will bring a nice rain event to Alabama early next week… for now looks like the target day will be Tuesday (February 5)… and the pattern remains active on into voodoo country with several nice storm systems showing up, and a few shots of cold air.

STORM ALERT 2008: Our annual severe weather awareness tour across Alabama begins this week! Our first stop will at Oak Grove High School on Thursday (January 31); from there will have shows in Anniston, Northport, Lineville, and Moody. See the details on this year’s show, and the schedule here. We hope to see you along the way!

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. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We will record a new show tonight that will be posted by 10:00 or so.

I will be doing a weather program this morning at Trace Crossings Elementary in Hoover… then it is back into the office where I will produce the afternoon Weather Xtreme video; it will be posted by 3:30. Enjoy the day!

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