Cool Weekend for Central Alabama

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After several days of very warm weather, Central Alabama is set to see a couple of days of cool weather. We’re starting off chilly with temperatures generally around freezing across the Tennessee Valley and in the mid 30s across Central Alabama. Highs today with lots of sun will climb into the upper 50s. Looks like tomorrow will be a near perfect copy of today with another cool start to the day but temperatures climbing into the 60s for afternoon highs.

Most March cold spells are short lived and it looks like this one will follow that pattern. By Monday we’ll be edging close to the 70-degree mark as the upper pattern flattens and Central Alabama comes under a ridge pattern. We should be into the 70s for the rest of the week. And with a strong ridge I am expecting us to stay dry probably well into next weekend.

A small disturbance moving through the upper flow will likely bring clouds to North Alabama on Wednesday, but I think the atmosphere will be too dry for any scattered showers. We got a nice rain the other day, however, Central Alabama is still in a rain deficit with the Birmingham airport about 2 inches below normal for March and a bit over 6 inches below normal for 2007.

A strong upper trough will come into the west coast around Tuesday, but that will develop into a split flow by Thursday and Friday. A strong band of westerlies will bring a series of short waves across the Great Lakes while a cut-off low spins across Northern Mexico. The Southeast remains under a ridge aloft so fronts stay off to the north and west keeping us dry and warm. The cut-off low meanders to our west and might bring some chance of rain late next weekend.

And out into voodoo land, the GFS is suggesting some wet weather toward the end of the month around the 27th or 28th. But that is a long way into the future, so I would expect that pattern to change before we actually get to that time. However, I’m pulling for some rain because March is one of our wetter months but we are sorely in need of some rain as it stands right now.

Headed out to Adamsville later this morning to participate in the Neighbors in Need program to aid clean up there from the tornado back on March 1. I was out there yesterday handing out NOAA Weather Radios and there is a lot of clean up that still needs doing. I’d also like to mention that NOAA, the parent agency to the National Weather Service, is celebrating 200 years of science in the US. Check out the web site at NOAA to see what’s happening with the celebration.

I hope you have a great weekend. Enjoy the cool weather because the hot weather is not too far off. God bless.

-Brian-

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