Merry Christmas! Your Weather Xtreme Video for December 25th Is Under the Tree!

Merry Christmas! Santa has made his rounds and now it is time to tear into some presents. You won’t have any complaints about your Christmas Day weather here across Central Alabama, although clouds are already on the increase across the area. And rain is on the horizon. Lots of it. Let’s dig into the details.

FOR TODAY: High pressure is centered over Virginia and that means the return of southeasterly winds, milder temperatures, as well as moisture and clouds to Alabama. It will be a nice day, with high temperatures clustered around 60F. Tonight will feature those increased clouds and it won’t be as cold. Look for lows by morning to be in the middle 40s.

FOR YOUR WEDNESDAY: As you might be heading back to the mall to return a few things, at least the weather will cooperate at least early. Skies will be mostly cloudy with highs in the middle 60s. A few showers will show up over southwestern sections by afternoon and will overspread the area by evening.

THURSDAY SOAKER: As the high slides eastward the invasion will begin. A few showers will enter Southwest Alabama during the predawn hours, spreading northeast during the morning. There will be some thunder involved at times, but there won’t be any strong storms. It appears the event may come in two rounds: the first during the morning hours and another during the afternoon and into the evening. It will be mild again with highs in the middle 60s.

HEADING TO THE WEEKEND: Heavy rain will be a good bet early Friday before a cold front will push the rain out of the area during the day on Friday. It should end in Birmingham by late morning and out of East Alabama around Auburn around 4 p.m.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT: As a kid, I loved hearing a 100% chance of rain. That’s confidence. Thursday looks like one of those 100% chance of rain days.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE HEAVY: It looks like 4-5 inch rainfall amounts will be common along and south of the I-59/20 Corridor from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham to Anniston through the weekend. There will be some higher amounts as well. This could cause some flooding issues.

MUSIC CITY BOWL: For Auburn fans heading to Nashville for their bowl game with Purdue: rain *should* end during the morning, but there are signs it could linger into the actual game itself. Temperatures from kickoff until the fourth quarter should hover in the upper 50s. Like here, Thursday will be wet.

ORANGE BOWL: Alabama and Oklahoma fans in Miami for the College Football Playoff game in the Orange Bowl Saturday evening will have some fine tropical winter weather. Highs in the 80s and lows in the 60s to near 70 and only a few tropical showers. Rain chances during the game are only about 20% with temperatures falling from 76F to 72F by the end of the game.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: Timing those impulses will be difficult, but it looks like after a brief respite Friday night and Saturday morning, rain will edge back northward into Central Alabama. It could remain wet through the weekend.

NEW YEAR”S EVE: Looks like we may get through the day and the evening in dry fashion with NYE celebrations not getting wet. Look for highs in the lower 50s and lows in the 30s. This could change, especially given that the Euro is very wet for Monday night.

NEW YEAR’S DAY: Looks wet again. We will call for a cold rain, with highs in the lower 50s.

GULF COAST WEATHER: An extended period of wet weather setting up for the beautiful beaches of Alabama and Northwest Florida as we head towards the New Year. Rain will begin late Wednesday and be a staple in the forecast right on through New Year’s Day. It won’t rain the whole of course, but there will be several bouts with showers and storms. Highs will touch 70F on Friday, but otherwise be in the mild 60s. Lows will be generally in the 50s and 60s.

Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page.

WEATHERBRAINS: This week, the panel spoke with Greg Carbin and Rich Thompson. As is tradition, Greg unveiled the tenth weather event on his list of the top weather events of the year. Check out the show at www.WeatherBrains.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes. You can watch the show live at live.bigbrainsmedia.com You will be able to see the show on the James Spann 24×7 weather channel on cable or directly over the air on the dot 2 feed.

ON THIS DATE IN 2004: The snowfall of 4.4 inches at Corpus Christi established a new record for a single storm in the Texas coastal city. The snow began on the evening of the 24th, and by Christmas morning, residents were enjoying a traditional White Christmas. Nearby Victoria, Texas picked up 13 inches of snow, their first White Christmas in eighty-six years. The unusual Christmas gift was caused by a vigorous low-pressure system over the Gulf of Mexico that moved on a track which was perfect for producing snowfall along the coast and just inland. Galveston and Port Aransas, which are directly on the Gulf of Mexico picked up three and four inches of snow respectively. Brownsville, at the southern tip of Texas, picked up 1.5 inches, their first measurable snow since 1895. Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am @wxhistorian at Twitter.com.

We continue on our holiday schedule this week with the boss on vacation. I will have the next Weather Xtreme Video tomorrow morning. Scott will have the noon report and there will be updates as necessary righ here on the AlabamaWX Weather Blog.

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