Arctic Express In Two Phases

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PHASE ONE: The first cold air shot blows in here tomorrow. I would not be shocked if we stay in the 30s all day tomorrow (like Sunday), but we will forecast a high in the mid 40s with a gusty northwest wind. A few snow flurries are possible tomorrow morning with the cold air shot, but the air is very dry and they won’t amount to much. You want snow with this wave, head north where Chicago and Des Moines are under a blizzard warning. We will drop to near 20 degrees by daybreak Wednesday.

PHASE TWO: The coldest air is due in here Thursday and Friday. I figure the high Thursday will be around 32, with a wind chill index in the single digits much of the day; some places north of Birmingham could see sub-zero wind chill values during the day. Again, a few flurries are possible, but the air remains dry. The bottom will drop out Friday morning, with most places seeing a low between 10 and 15 degrees, with colder valleys dropping into the 4 to 9 degree range. This is pipe bursting weather, and is about as cold as it gets here with no snow cover. Preparations need to continue as the cold air is now knocking on the door.

THE WEEKEND: A strong short wave will rotate through here on Sunday, and we will mention just a chance of some light rain or light snow, but at this point global models show very limited moisture, and it doesn’t look like a big threat. Low level thickness values suggest mostly snow flakes for areas along and north of I-20, but Sunday is a long way away and we can focus on this later in the week.

THE LAND OF VOODOO: I get the idea the coldest January weather will be found during the next 5 days, but the GFS hints at a couple of decent cold shots during the latter half of the month.

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I had a great time seeing the kids at Oak Mountain Elementary School this morning… be looking for them on the KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News! The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

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