Blue Skies on a Red Letter Day

Today is a red letter day in Alabama and U.S. weather history. The Superoutbreak of tornadoes produced 148 tornadoes across 13 states, including Alabama. It is second only to the April 27, 2011 Superoutbreak in terms of the number of tornadoes produced. 319 people died, including 82 in Alabama. Some of the notable tornadoes in Alabama included the F5 that demolished much of the Marion County town of Guin, the long track F4 that hit Jasper and Cullman, two F5 tornadoes on nearly aligned paths that hit Tanner, Alabama 30 minutes apart and the Huntsville Tornado (F3). I will have a special essay posting at 2 p.m. that will rememver that fateful day from the point of view of the late J.B. Elliott who experienced that day while a forecaster at the National Weather Service.

CHILLY START: Readings this morning across the area dropped into the lower 40s for the most part. Birmingham hit 43F, Tuscaloosa was 41F and Anniston recorded 42F. Russellville dropped to 33F to become the state’s cool spot. There was quite a bit of frost across the Tennessee Valley counties.

GORGEOUS SUNDAY: After a beautiful Saturday, with cloudless skies and temperatures in the middle 60s, today promises to be even better. Early this afternoon, you would have to fly to the Middle Texas Coast to find even any clouds, so we should see mostly blue skies all day again across Central Alabama. Highs will be 3-4 degrees warmer than those of yesterday.

NEW WORK WEEK: The air will have a refreshing bite to it as many kids head back to the bus stop tomorrow morning after a week of spring break. Most everyone should be in the 40s Monday morning, except for the usual cool suspects that will find their way into the 30s. Tomorrow will be an absolutely perfect day, with highs in the middle 70s areawide. Under mostly clear skies. A few clouds will show up late in the day, but all they will do is improve the prospects for Spann’s Twitter feed to fill up with gorgeous sunset photos.

CLIPPER: A little Clipper low pressure system passing through the Great Lakes will push a dry front through Central Alabama late Monday night. This will shave 3-4 degrees off the temperatures for Tuesday, but most spots will threaten 70F again. Not too shabby!

Category: Alabama's Weather