Watching Developments Early Next Week

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…

What a great crowd last night for our first Storm Alert 2008 show at Oak Grove High School; we figured attendance would be way down with a cold, driving rain. But, lots of folks came out to see us and we really appreciate it. I will post some pictures here on the blog shortly… next week we will over on the eastern side of the state at the Anniston City Meeting Center on Thursday (February 7).

SLOW CLEARING: I am not sure folks north and east of Birmingham will see much sun today, but we will forecast slow clearing today from west to east with temperatures holding in the cool 40s most of the day, as the big storm system that brought beneficial rain last night moves well to the east of Alabama. Tonight, with a clear sky, we will drop quickly, and most folks will be in the upper 20s at daybreak tomorrow.

The good news is that tomorrow will feature maximum sunshine and a nice warm-up; the high will be close to 60 degrees.

MORE QUICK CHANGES: A southerly flow returns on Sunday, and a few showers could show up Sunday afternoon. Showers are likely on Monday of next week as a deep moist later moves up into the state, and that could set the stage for an outbreak of severe thunderstorms late Tuesday or Tuesday night.

The GFS and the ECMWF show another vigorous system moving in here by Tuesday night, and this time we expect dewpoints in the 60s, and surface based CAPE values in excess of 1,000 j/kg (as opposed to no SBCAPE for the last two events). SPC has all of Alabama, and a large part of the Southeast U.S. in a severe weather risk for Tuesday and Tuesday night, and that will be our focus in coming days as we get into the specifics of the system. On the positive side, much of Alabama should see an additional one to two inches of rain Sunday through Tuesday.

Cooler and drier air will return by Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

The pattern will continue to be active through the rest of the month, and there are plenty of players on the field, including some -50 degree (F) air over Canada. Looks like a fun month to watch the weather across the U.S.

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.

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Today I will be speaking to the residents of the Regency Retirement Village in Homewood… then it is on to the office where I will have the Weather Xtreme video posted by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

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