Good Soaking Thursday And Friday

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

As always, I recommend scrolling down so you can see all of the blog content today. Excellent post by Tim Coleman below this one, and there are many stunning images from the Prattville as well.

LOOKING AHEAD: A big rain event is unfolding for Alabama Thursday and Friday; the QPF charts are ramping up now, suggesting rain totals of 2 to 3 inches for much of Alabama. Tomorrow will be partly sunny and mild, but a few showers could slip in here tomorrow night in advance of a cold front, that will stall out somewhere over Central Alabama. Thursday will feature periods of rain and possibly a thunderstorm, with slightly cooler daytime temperatures for this part of Alabama (highs back in the mid to upper 50s). There will be a sharp thermal gradient across the state Thursday because of the stalled front; Huntsville will have a hard time getting out of the 40s, while Mobile could reach the low 70s.

STORMY FRIDAY: We will continue to highlight a good chance of showers and thunderstorms on Friday. SPC has a severe weather risk for South Alabama Friday, generally along and south of U.S. 84. While the jet structure looks favorable for strong to severe storms, the lack of serious instability, a deepening surface low, and really sharp upper trough should help to prevent a major severe weather problem for this end of Alabama on Friday. No doubt we should see some strong storms, however, and we will keep a close eye on the radar.

OUR WEEKEND: We forecast a clearing sky on Saturday, and a partly sunny sky on Sunday. The latest GFS MOS shows a high of 60 for Birmingham on Saturday, and 66 Sunday. Those numbers look pretty good. We do note the 12Z GFS holds on to showers into the early morning hours on Saturday for the eastern third of the state, but most of Alabama should be dry over the weekend.

NEXT WEEK: Looks like a much more significant severe weather threat Monday night or Tuesday of next week, with a phased upper trough, deepening surface low, and excellent wind fields. Instability should be pretty decent as well. The latest GFS shows the main action in the 12:00 midnight to 9:00 a.m. time frame (early Tuesday); if that is correct it means the storms will be coming through here at a time when the atmosphere is most stable. But, the timing could change. We need to get the Thursday/Friday system out of here, and then we can focus on this one.

LUNAR ECLIPSE TOMORROW NIGHT: A total eclipse of the Moon occurs during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event is visible from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon’s disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.

An eclipse of the Moon can only take place at Full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through some portion of Earth’s shadow. The shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped parts, one nested inside the other. The outer shadow or penumbra is a zone where Earth blocks some (but not all) of the Sun’s rays. In contrast, the inner shadow or umbra is a region where Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

Click here for a look at the eclipse times for Alabama.

STORM ALERT 2008: Our annual severe weather awareness show comes to Lineville tomorrow night… we will be at Lineville High School; the doors open at 5:00, and the show begins at 7:00. I was actually down in Lineville this morning speaking to the students at Lineville Elementary School… be looking for those kids today at 5:00 on the KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News!

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. An all new episode is available… one we recorded last night.

Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

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