Big Warm-Up Today

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

As we begin the day, we are getting reports of temperatures below freezing in spots… from our Skywatcher network, Vic Bell up in Northeast Etowah County reports 30 degrees, while Patrick Martin in Hale County has 33 and John Talbot in Concord is at 34. For those of you wanting to work in the garden, keep in mind that more frost, and a possible freeze for colder valleys, is ahead for early next week.

Despite the morning chill, we warm up in a hurry today, and most places will be up in the low 70s today with a good supply of sunshine.

EASTER WEEKEND: Winds will turn around to the north tomorrow, and temperatures will be slightly cooler (the high will be in the upper 60s). Then, the cooler air will be more noticeable on Sunday. We have a pretty big model spread Sunday; the GFS prints a high of 62, while the NAM is nine degrees colder with a high of 53. As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in between those two values. A few clouds will show up Sunday, but the day will be dry.

NEXT WEEK: Looks like we can take the chance of any precipitation out of the forecast Sunday night and Monday morning as the GFS continues to trend drier with the passing short wave. And, the idea of a major late season snow event for the major eastern U.S. cities continues to diminish as the models keep the system offshore. Here in Alabama, we will be down in the 30s Monday and Tuesday morning with potential for frost, and a freeze for the colder valleys. Afternoons won’t be too bad, with a high in the low 60s Monday, and we will be close to 70 by Tuesday afternoon.

The 00Z GFS shows a short wave passing north of Alabama late next week, with a band of showers passing through Thursday night or early Friday. But, instead of a big rain and storm event like it was advertising a few days ago, this solution is much weaker and drier. And, the model now shows riding by Friday and the following weekend (March 28-30) with little if any precipitation. Confidence in a solution out here is low due to the lack of consistency in model output.

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.

I will have the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon… enjoy this Good Friday!

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