Saturday Weather Xtreme — A Dry & Cool Weekend

DRY & COOL FOR THE WEEKEND: After a cold start across Central Alabama with morning lows down in the upper teens to the lower 30s across the area from northwest to southeast, a trough will keep us rather cool on Saturday. Any leftover clouds will move out, and afternoon highs will only be in the upper 30s to the upper 40s. The trough will be forced a little eastward on Sunday, allowing for the lead edge of a ridge to move into the southeast. That will bring sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures, as highs will max out in the upper 40s to the lower 50s across the area.

COULD WE SEE WINTRY MISCHIEF BY THE END OF THE WEEK? A surface low will form off to our southwest on Monday and will begin to head in our direction. The good news is that it looks for now that the rain will hold off moving into the area until the extreme late-night or into the overnight hours. Highs will be in the lower to upper 50s across the area. As the system moves through the area, a trough will begin to dig into the area behind it. We’ll have showers likely at times throughout the day on Tuesday, especially along and south of the I-20 corridor. Highs will be in the mid-40s to the mid-50s.

The trough really deepens across the area on Wednesday, reinforcing the cooler air. We’ll have plenty of sunshine, but it will definitely feel like winter, as highs will only be in the upper 30s to the lower 50s across the area from northwest to southeast. The trough flattens out on Thursday, but we’ll remain cool with plenty of sunshine. Highs will be in the mid-40s to the lower 50s across the area.

A weak frontal system will move through the area on Friday, but at this point, it looks to be moisture-starved. I can’t rule out a stray shower or two, but for now it looks like we’ll be mainly dry. Interestingly enough, the European model shows a much different picture, as showers mixed in with snow showers look to be possible from the afternoon through the evening hours on Friday. Highs look to be in the mid-40s to the lower 50s.

TEMPERATURE & RAINFALL OUTLOOK: The mean of the GFS ensemble for the Birmingham airport shows that we could see a little over an inch and a half of rainfall between now and Sunday, February 6th at midday. And hot off the presses, here is the latest CPC temperature outlook for the last week of January, and it shows that temperatures will be below normal across Central Alabama. The National Blend of Models shows highs mostly in the 40s from now through the end of the month, except for a few 50s mixed in there for Sunday through Tuesday, and once again for a couple of days at the end of the run. Lows will be in the 20s and 30s.

ON THIS DAY IN WEATHER HISTORY: 1943 – Chinook winds during the early morning hours caused the temperature at Spearfish SD to rise from 4 below zero to 45 above in just two minutes, the most dramatic temperature rise in world weather records. An hour and a half later, the mercury plunged from 54 above to 4 below zero in twenty-seven minutes.

2000 – A severe ice storm hit northern Georgia and portions of northwest South Carolina on January 22-23. Over half a million utility customers were without power during and after the storm, with the Atlanta area severely affected.

BEACH FORECAST: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Dauphin Island, AL, to Panama City Beach, FL, on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Weather Xtreme Videos, Winter Weather