Filtered Sunshine Today

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Some high clouds moving across Central Alabama this morning generating some very nice sunrise shots from our Skycam network. Looks like an incredibly nice day in store for us after a chilly start. Vic Bell up in Black Creek reported being below freezing once again with a low of 28, but it only dipped to 34 at my place in Helena. Passing high clouds today will dim the sun somewhat, however, we should climb well into the 60s for the afternoon highs after the chilly start with morning lows mainly in the 30s.

The overall upper air long wave trough is back in position across the eastern and central US. Single digit readings once again cover the North Central US with some spots dipping below 0 – like Devils Lake, ND, at minus 6 this morning.

For the week ahead, it looks like the long wave trough will remain positioned over the eastern and central US while our upper flow remains nearly zonal. This will keep the weather pattern active. Look for some clouds on Sunday with the main rain chances along the Gulf Coast with the development of a weak surface low along the stationary front in the Gulf. Cooler air invades Monday as the upper trough sharpens up a bit. But this is not anything extreme as highs will still reach the lower 60s.

A series of fast moving short waves in the overall long wave trough will gradually sharpen the trough over the eastern US by Wednesday with yet another shot of cold air invading the Southeast US. This appears to be a classic Southeast US event with cold air arriving after the moisture has departed. But we’ll need to keep an eye on the timing so that there are no winter weather surprises accompanying this cold shot. Highs Wednesday will be in the 40s with the cold air and Thursday morning we are back into the 20s for lows. But with the sun getting closer on its trek northward, we should recover into the 50s for the end of the week.

Another fast moving short wave late Friday and into Saturday promises another shot at some precipitation and clouds, but nothing that appears extreme.

That all changes as we move out into voodoo country. With the long wave trough positioned over the eastern portion of the country, a series of strong short waves will continue to reinforce the cold air until we wind up with an very deep trough axis just west of the Appalachians around March 9th. This would spell some serious cold weather once again as well as another round of potential winter weather. But if you’ve been reading the blog much, you know that it can all change on the next model run. So we’ll keep an eye on it and see how it unfolds as we managed the next several weather systems one at a time.

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I had a wonderful time at the Virginia Samford Theater last night with The Dill Pickers and Episode Four of their Old Tyme Radio Show. Such a marvelously talented group of musicians. You can catch the latest weather forecast on ABC 3340 at 6 and 10 pm today as I will be filling in for Ashley Brand this weekend. And a busy week ahead with two Storm Alert Tour stops, one in Calera on Tuesday and another in Oxford on Thursday. Enjoy the day and Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather