Fine Fall Weekend

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COLD MORNING: Vic Bell, our Skywatcher in the small community of Scrougeout, in Etowah County northeast of Gadsden, is reporting 29 degrees at 5:00 this morning with heavy frost. Most official reporting stations are in the mid to upper 30s; Birmingham is at 39, while Tuscaloosa reports 38, and Anniston 35. With a strong November sun, we will warm quickly and wind up in the 67 to 70 degree range.

The weekend still looks delightful with sunny mild days and clear cool nights. Afternoon highs will be in the low 70s tomorrow, with mid 70s Sunday.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: For a change we have some great weather to discuss this week. For tonight’s high school playoff games, the sky will be clear with a kickoff temperature near 64 degrees, dropping into the 50s during the second half. Tomorrow, Alabama hosts LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa (2:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be sunny with 71 degrees at kickoff, with temperatures falling back into the 60s during the second half. Very similar weather for the Auburn/Furman game at Jordan-Hare Stadium; lots of sunshine with temperatures in the 67 to 70 degree range during the game. UAB celebrates homecoming Saturday, as the Blazers host Florida Atlantic at Legion Field (1:00 p.m. kickoff). A sunny sky for that game with a kickoff temperature near 70 degrees.

NEXT WEEK: A disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico (NOT Ida) will move into the Deep South early next week, and bring periods of rain to Alabama Monday night and Tuesday. The guys at HPC have really ramped up their QPF graphic, showing 3 inches over far West Alabama. Seems a little aggressive here; we figure amounts will be around one inch from this system. Then again, there could be some tropical characteristics involved, and those things can be effective rain producers as we all know. For now the latter half of the week, Wednesday through Friday, looks generally rain-free with highs between 65 and 70.

IDA UPDATE: The tropical depression is in the process of moving back over water, so it should become better organized this morning and a tropical storm again later today. Remember, all of that water in the western Caribbean has been pretty much untouched this hurricane season, so there is lots of latent heat energy available, and there is a chance this thing becomes a hurricane as it approaches the southern Gulf of Mexico. But, the farther north you go in the Gulf, the water cools quickly, so even if it tries to come up our way it will fizzle out quickly. Most models bend Ida to the right over the Central Gulf, and it has the potential to bring heavy rain to the Florida peninsula next week. The official NHC track keeps it a tropical storm all the way; see the Weather Xtreme video for more details and all the graphics.

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 on Saturday November 14 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). 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.

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.

Today I am speaking at the Birmingham East Rotary Club at St. Vincent’s East at midday… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

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