Big Rain Event Ahead
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ON THE MAPS: A deep upper low is near El Paso, Texas this morning, stirring up a fuss over the Lone Star state with a large mass of rain and storms. Flash flood warnings are up around Austin, and a tornado watch is in effect, but keep in mind this is a state that is in a horrible drought, so this big rain is not all bad news.
HERE AT HOME: Today will be generally cloudy and warm for January with a high around the 70 degree mark. A few scattered showers could break out through tonight, but nothing organized or widespread. Winds will increase out of the south as the day wears on.
TOMORROW/FRIDAY: As the upper low gets closer, rain and storms will become more widespread. Looks like the most significant action here will come tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. SPC maintains the standard “slight risk” of severe weather for the southern half of Alabama, where there will be decent mix of instability and shear; up this way at this point the chance of severe weather, at least on an organized basis, remains low due to very little CAPE and low helicity values. So, as we always have to do, we will watch the radar very closely, but for now it simply doesn’t look like a severe weather setup here.
If we do have issues, it could very well be related to flash flooding. The NWS office in Huntsville has issued a flash flood watch for their county warning area, which is the Tennessee Valley + Cullman County (we stress to readers there that Cullman County is in the Birmingham TV market, despite being in the Huntsville NWS CWA). Rain amounts of 1-2 inches are likely, in fact the NAM is printing 2.01″ for Birmingham, and considering the saturated soil conditions, we will have to monitor conditions here for flash flooding problems as well tomorrow night.
The rain should end early Friday, with slow clearing late in the day or Friday night.
OUR WEEKEND: We are forecasting a good supply of sunshine both Saturday and Sunday. The high Saturday will be close to 60, but thickness values come down Sunday, with a high in the low to mid 50s. We will be near freezing at daybreak Sunday as temperatures return to seasonal levels.
NEXT WEEK: The GFS continues to show a weak system at mid-week with a chance of showers, but with little upper support and limited moisture, heavy rain or severe weather should not be an issue. See the Weather Xtreme video for more details on short term and long range weather for Alabama.
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I have weather programs today at Kingwood Christian School in Alabaster, and Bluff Park Elementary in Hoover… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!
Category: Alabama's Weather
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James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.Subscribe
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