What A Difference Seven Days Can Make In Central Alabama

At this time just one week ago, much of Central Alabama was dealing with a wintry mix falling and starting the headache of travel problems and cold temperatures. In seven days, we went from having temperatures in the single digits, to daytime highs in the 70s… a shift of over 60 degrees in some locations. Today’s highs will be around 20 degrees above normal for mid-January.

At the midday hour, we have some cloud cover over the northern parts of the state, but for much of Central Alabama, skies are partly cloudy to mostly clear from north to south. We do have some scattered showers falling in the northwestern parts of the area, especially in Marion, Winston, Lamar, and Fayette counties. These are moving to the northeast. As for the rest of the area, it is dry and the sun is shining.

For the rest of the day, showers will remain likely throughout the morning and early afternoon hours in the northwestern parts of the area. For the rest of the area, a mix of sun and clouds will allow temperatures to warm to near record levels. Highs will be in the lower 70s in the north, with mid to upper 70s in the central and southern parts of the area. Skies will be partly to mostly clear for the evening and overnight hours, with a very small risk of a shower for the extreme northwestern parts. Patchy fog could develop across the area, especially after midnight. Lows will be in the lower 50s across the area, with a few of the colder spots hitting the 40s.

Temperatures Across Central Alabama
At 11:57 AM, temperatures are ranging from the lower 60s in the northwestern parts of the area, to the mid 70s in the southern parts of the area. The warm spot is currently Selma at 77 degrees. The cool spot is Haleyville at 63 degrees. I have a hard time believing it is actually 79 degrees in Jasper, and I’m not calling it the warm spot (no offense Jasper folks).

Birmingham’s Climatology And Records
The normal high for January 13th is 52, while the normal low is 32. The record high for today was set back in 1932 at 77 degrees. The record low was set back in 1918 at 5 degrees.

Weather For The Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend
A mix of sun and clouds can be expected throughout the weekend and into Monday, and temperature will remain unseasonably warm. We may have a very small risk for a passing shower on Monday, but it looks highly unlikely at this point. Afternoon highs will be in the 70s, with lows mainly in the 50s.

For Those Who Are Beach Bound
Partly to mostly sunny skies through the rest of the week and weekend. A chance of showers and thunderstorms return for Martin Luther King Day through mid-week. Highs will be at or just over 70 degrees throughout the forecast period. Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page.

National High & Low Temperature
The warmest high temperature for the United States on Thursday was 87 degrees, recorded at Cotulla, Texas. The coldest low temperature for the United States on Thursday night into early this morning was -39 degrees, recorded at International Falls, Minnesota.

On This Day In Weather History: 1989
Friday the 13th was bad luck primarily for the south central U.S. as an upper level weather disturbance spread a mixture of snow and sleet and freezing rain across Texas and Oklahoma. Snowfall totals in central Oklahoma ranged up to 8.5 inches at Norman.

World Class Tennis Returns To Birmingham
The BJCC will host the first-round tie against Switzerland February 3rd-5th. Single-day tickets are on sale now. Get them while they last! Buy tickets here.

Central Alabama Chapter Of The NWA
The Central Alabama Chapter of the National Weather Association will be hosting famed engineer and storm chaser Tim Marshall. He will speak at Vulcan Museum on the evening of Tuesday, January 24th. This is an event you won’t want to miss. Look for details on the chapter’s website.

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Forecaster: Scott Martin (Twitter: @scottmartinwx)

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Category: Alabama's Weather