An Interesting National Forecast

Even though much of the Southeast continues to be very warm and spring-like, and today is the first day of meteorological spring, it is still winter in the Northern Hemisphere and brutally cold, arctic air is not that far away from us in Alabama. Check out the temperature range across the U.S. There are 60s and 70s here in the Southeast, while single digits and sub-zero temps cover the Plains and Upper Midwest.

With a range in temps, you know there has to be some interesting weather and heading into Sunday that is what is in the forecast. The national watch and warning maps shows it is going to be a very busy few days as a major winter storm will be moving out of the Southwest and will move northeast across the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys. It will be dumping a lot of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Winter storm watches, warnings, winter weather advisories and even an ice storm warning have been issued from the Plains to the Mid-Atlantic Coast.

Looking at the precipitation forecast maps for Sunday evening, we see the storm system moving into the Mississippi River Valley with widespread precip falling. On the southern side of the storm system, where it is warm, it will be rain showers and storms. On the northern side, where the moisture is overrunning the very cold air, a massive amount of wintry precip will be falling. This system will cause widespread impacts on travel and will cause all sorts of weather headaches.

Yes, the winter weather side of the storm will certainly be impacting a larger area and more people, but heading into Sunday, there will even be a risk for severe weather. The SPC has issued a slight risk for severe weather for portions of eastern Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and southwestern Mississippi. This risk includes Houston, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Austin, and Lake Charles. A line of strong and severe storms is expected to develop along the cold front as it pushes into the warmer, and more moist air mass. The main concern with storms that develop will be damaging straight-line winds. No part of Alabama is included in this risk, but we have been outlined in a general thunderstorm outlook as we expected showers and storms to move into the state tomorrow night.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Headlines