Not Much Rain Today

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STORM ALERT XTREME!: Want to be trained as a storm spotter? Want to join the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher team? Our annual training event, Storm Alert Xtreme, is coming up this Saturday November 15 at the BJCC during the annual Birmingham International Auto Show. You will be trained by the best SKYWARN trainer in the nation, our own Brian Peters (he has trained over 6,000 Alabama storm spotters over the years), and learn from one of the most brilliant weather researchers in the country, our own Dr. Tim Coleman. We encourage all of our Skywatchers to attend this every year; you simply cannot get enough training. We will begin at 9:30, and be out by 3:30. And, everyone that attends Storm Alert Xtreme gets free admission to the Alabama International Auto Show. There is no admission charge, and no need to register. Just show up, but get there early for a good seat. We had a packed house last year.

HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY: A sincere thank you to the men and women who serve our country. God Bless all of you. The big parade in downtown Birmingham most likely won’t have too much rain to deal with; I guess a few sprinkles are possible, but the Birmingham dewpoint at 5:00 a.m. is 25, so low level moisture is seriously lacking right now. The best chance of rain reaching the ground today will remain over the northwest corner of the state, where some echoes are showing up on the radar as I write this. With some thin spots in the clouds today and a little sun, we will be approaching 70 this afternoon.

REST OF THE WEEK: We will need to mention some chance of a shower each day through Friday; we continue to see model madness, but agreement is better this morning, and both the NAM and the GFS are suggesting the best coverage of showers will come on Thursday and Friday, with only a few scattered showers tomorrow. There could be a few thunderstorms involved, but instability values remain very marginal, and severe weather does not look likely at this point.

Rain totals are very much up for debate, but it looks like the heaviest rain will be over Northwest Alabama, where over one inch is possible through Friday night. Amounts will taper off as you go east, with around one-half inch for the eastern counties of Alabama. The rain should end Friday evening, but at this point we can’t guarantee it will be totally over for the high school football playoff games Friday night. Possible, but no promise.

COLDER WEEKEND: The GFS has backed off on the amount of cooling this weekend, but we still expect a sharp change to cooler weather on Saturday and Sunday. Looks like highs only in the 50s both days, with lows well down in the 30s both Sunday and Monday morning. Colder valleys should drop well down into the 20s by daybreak Monday.

INTO VOODOO COUNTRY: The GFS has backed off on the big cold trough around November 19-20; it shows a weaker system with just a few showers around here, but we all know that will probably change again. Still looks like a pattern for colder than average temperatures, generally speaking, for the rest of November. Hopefully that will prevent a major severe weather problem.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 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. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. Scroll down for the show notes for the new episode recorded last night.

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We are on a regular schedule today, and the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

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