A Look At The Coming Christmas Weekend Cold Wave
CHRISTMAS COLD WAVE: A bitterly cold, Arctic airmass will invade the Deep South Thursday night and Friday, and will persist through the Christmas weekend. Here are some important points…
*Ahead of the Arctic front, some light rain is possible Thursday afternoon. As cold air rushes into the state, the rain will likely change to light snow or snow flurries over North Alabama Thursday night.
*This is a “cold air chasing the moisture” setup, which rarely produces meaningful snow accumulation here. Using the reliable European global model ensemble mean, the probability of getting 1 inch of snow across North Alabama Thursday night for now is only 10-20 percent. The chance of seeing a few snow flakes is fairly high, but the chance of accumulation is pretty low.
*The focus needs to be on the cold air. Temperatures could reach the single digits across parts of North Alabama by Friday morning, and temperatures will remain below freezing all day across much of the state. The wind chill index will be below zero most of the day over the northern counties.
*Many places will go at least 48 consecutive hours below freezing… some over 72 hours. The high Saturday will be in the 25-32 degree range, and between 30 and 36 degrees on Christmas Day.
*Christmas weekend for now looks dry. I am aware that some runs of the American GFS have attempted to bring some light snow into the state, but that idea has no support from other global models or the ensembles.
*Cold waves like this are a serious threat to people with no adequate heating source. Be very, very careful with space heaters. Plan on bringing your pets indoors. Exposed pipes will need to be wrapped with insulation. Learn how to shut off water valves for potential pipe bursts.
*Please don’t share the outrageous ”model snow maps” from rogue Facebook accounts like “Uncle Joe’s Tot Locker and Weather Page”. While some do it for fun, others do it maliciously, knowing we will have to spend lots of time we don’t have answering the “Is is true” questions. Think before you share!
Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS
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James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.Subscribe
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