A Parade of Cold Fronts

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

The weather pattern affecting Central Alabama and the Southeast US remains very active as we watch a parade of cold fronts move through the eastern US with the long wave trough situated over the eastern US. This will keep us cold with temperatures for the next week expected to remain below seasonal averages. While the cold pattern might present some hope for us to see a snow event, it appears unlikely that we’ll see any significant moisture for at least a week or longer so we stay dry along with the cold.

Our weekend is starting off on a very chilly note once again with morning lows dipping down to around 20 degrees. Vic Bell in Black Creek reported a low of 15 this morning, coldest low I’ve noted. Most airport sites reported lows around 20. With lots of sunshine today we should see highs climb to around 50 degrees. A surface low moving through the Ohio River Valley today will bring a few clouds to the area from the Tennessee River northward, and there is a long strip of winter weather advisories for snowfall of 1 to 5 inches along the track of the low stretching from extreme eastern Dakotas southeastward to Kentucky.

The upper disturbance will track southeastward, too, swinging through the base of the long wave trough position during the day Sunday. We should be a tad warmer on Sunday morning but the highs Sunday will only reach the upper 40s for most locations.

The upper flow pattern remains very fast with a series or parade of upper level disturbances moving rapidly through that long wave trough. Another disturbance dives into the southern Appalachians on Tuesday followed by yet another one on Thursday. Each of these will continue to reinforce the cold air in place across the eastern US. Wednesday through Friday morning we’ll see the lows at daybreak flirting with values in the teens once again as these disturbances rotate through the trough keeping a strong northwesterly flow of cold air coming our way. Unfortunately, since the overall pattern will be quite dry, there does not appear to be any real threat for precipitation until we get out into week 2.

Out in voodoo country, the GFS brings a closed low across northern Mexico and into the Gulf of Mexico around the 31st of January. This would signal the first shot at any significant rainfall, but it would most likely be rain as the long wave trough edges out into the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern US warms up significantly. But remember, week 2 is all voodoo and that whole idea of the warm up might be gone on later runs.

And you can follow news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. Stay in the know by following the whole gang – here’s the list…

Thanks for staying tuned to the Weather Blog where you’ll find a stream of notes on the weather for Alabama and other parts of the country. I anticipate posting the next Weather Xtreme Video by 8 am or so on Sunday morning. Stay warm and Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather