Alabama Weather Getting Interesting

PATTERN FLIP: Our pattern flip is happening; the positions of the various ridges and troughs in the mid latitude westerlies have changed, and that will open the door for rain opportunities in the coming days and weeks.

A disturbance aloft is over performing this morning; most model guidance yesterday showed no measurable rain for Alabama today, but we do indeed have rain on radar over the western counties early this morning, and even some thunderstorms showing up to the west over Mississippi…

Pretty remarkable to see this rain with the air so dry; dewpoints are only in the 30s and 40s across Alabama this morning. This patchy rain will move east, and will probably slowly vanish from the radar screen in coming hours, but nice to see some places getting the dust settled.

Otherwise, today will be occasionally cloudy with a high around 70 degrees.

TOMORROW/THURSDAY: These two days will be sunny with a warming trend; we reach the low 70s tomorrow, and upper 70s Thursday. Some spots could see 80 degrees Thursday afternoon.

FRIDAY NIGHT FRONT: The day Friday will stay dry and very mild with upper 70s again, but a cold front will bring showers to Alabama late Friday night into early Saturday morning. No drought buster, and rain amounts will be generally under 1/2 inch, but we will take what we get…

The main window for rain comes from 9:00 pm Friday through 9:00 am Saturday.

WEEKEND CHILL: Much colder air invades Alabama following the front; we hold in the 50s all day Saturday, and some communities north of Birmingham won’t get out of the 40s Sunday despite sunshine in full supply. A chilly north breeze of 10-20 mph will make it feel colder. It will easily be the coldest air so far this season; most places will drop into the 20s early Monday morning.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: For the high school football playoff games Friday night, rain is possible over the northwest corner of the state, otherwise clouds will increase with temperatures in the 60s.

Alabama will host Chattanooga Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium (6:00p CT kickoff)… the sky will be mostly fair with temperatures falling from 54 at kickoff into the chilly low 40s for the second half.

Auburn hosts Alabama A&M Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium (6:30p CT kickoff)… mostly fair with temperatures falling from the mid 50s at kickoff, and into the mid 40s by the fourth quarter.

THANKSGIVING WEEK: Global models are now advertising a mid-week rain producer; the GFS and the Euro (ECMWF) show a pretty good rain event in here Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve), with potential for more than 1/2 inch of rain. That rain moves out Wednesday night, and for now Thanksgiving looks cool and dry.

See the Weather Xtreme Video for maps, graphics, and more details.

AT THE BEACH: Cloudy periods today, but the weather stays dry… then sunny days and fair nights tomorrow through the weekend. Highs in the 70s through Friday, dropping into the 60s this weekend from Gulf Shores to Panama City Beach. See a very detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

TROPICS: A wave in the western Caribbean has a high chance of developing later this week, but it will move northeast and is no threat to the U.S.

ON THIS DATE IN 1989: Around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 1989, a tornado touched down near Madkin Mountain on Redstone Arsenal, southwest of Huntsville. The tornado moved northeast towards the heavily-populated Airport Road area, where it would destroy or damage 80 businesses, 3 churches, a dozen apartment buildings, and more than 1,000 cars. It moved on, climbing over Garth Mountain, demolishing Jones Valley Elementary School, and destroying 259 homes in the Jones Valley area. The tornado then moved out into eastern Madison County, where it damaged the equipment and maintenance headquarters of Commission District 2 as well as a state forestry office, destroyed 3 more homes, a volunteer fire department, several barns and sheds, and numerous electrical towers.

All told, the tornado killed 21 people and injured 463. Rated an F4 on the Fujita Scale, it inflicted approximately $250 million in damage.

Unfortunately, there was initially no warning for the tornado in that Doppler Radar was not operational at the time.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 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. Scroll down for the show notes for the new episode we recorded last night.

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I am speaking today at the Sprayberry Education Center in Tuscaloosa… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 4:00 this afternoon…

Tags: ANC, showers

Category: Alabama's Weather