Saturday Weather Briefing: Showers Return This Afternoon and Tonight

Only 9 shopping days left until Christmas! Seems like a throwback to an earlier time when you couldn’t shop on Sunday and delivery trucks weren’t plying up and down our streets delivering everything we bought on line with the click of a mouse. It was a simpler time…

NO SIMPLE TIME IN THE WEATHER OFFICE: We have a longwave trough over the Midwest and a shortwave trough moving across the Gulf of Mexico. One of those will be a factor in our weather, and the other will spin up a big East Coast storm. If this were January and it were colder, we would be measuring the snow with a yardstick in places from the Mid-Atlantic into New England. The upper trough to our northwest will cutoff into one of those upper level lows and it will dive southeastward, even as the Gulf disturbance starts to strengthen. The two systems will link up to become a powerhouse storm by Sunday evening as it winds up off the coast of South Carolina and heads northeastward. The aspiring upper low to our northwest will deliver rain to Alabama by early afternoon today, with scattered showers remaining a factor until Sunday afternoon. It doesn’t look like the rain will be really widespread or heavy, with average rainfall amounts around one tenth of an inch. Sunday will feature clearing skies by afternoon with a gusty northwest wind arriving late in the day post frontal passage. You will start the day in the middle and upper 40s and rise about 10 degrees during the day.

THE WEEK AHEAD: Monday will be sunny and cool with lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s. We won’t get out of the 40s Tuesday, after morning readings in the lower and middle 20s, which is getting into hard freeze territory. It looks like cloudiness will be on the increase Tuesday, setting the stage for a dreary, chilly day. Wednesday will feature a little more sun, but not much. Highs should warm back into the 50s though. Variable clouds Thursday and Friday, with highs in the 50s and lower 60s, after morning lows in the 20s and 30s.
BAMA’S BOWL WEEKEND: Three bowl games across Alabama Saturday, including the 76 Birmingham Bowl in Protective Stadium. Saturday should start off in the 40s, with game time temperatures approaching 60 degrees. A great opportunity to come out and support our local bowl and the Trojans of Troy University. Weather looks good in Mobile and Montgomery as well for their tilts.

VOODOO TERRITORY: Looks like we remain dry for much of Christmas Eve, but rain will slowly return that night, and it looks like a good soaker for Christmas Day. That rain could hold on into the day after Christmas, but we should dry out for the remainder of 2023. A fast moving cold front could bring us a few light showers on New Years Eve, mainly during the day.

BAROMETER READING A LITTLE HIGH? As I walked past the barometer in my house on Thursday, I did a double take as it was reading over 30.60 inches of mercury. That’s crazy high. I thought my trusty old barometer that has served me well since I was a kid had come unwound. But it was right. The reading of 30.67 inches at the Birmingham Airport was not far from the all-time December record for the Magic City of 30.79” set on December 17, 1972. Our all-time high pressure reading is 30.88 inches set on January 6, 1924.

BEACHCAST: Rain is possible today and tonight along the beautiful beaches of Alabama and Northwest Florida, but it should be gone by tomorrow morning and high pressure will take over with dry but cool weather for the next 7 days. Rain will not return before early Christmas morning, with a wet look for the 25th and 26th all the way into the 27th. Water temperatures have edged back up to the middle 60s, but a high rip current risk is in effect through Sunday afternoon. 60s for highs Sunday and Monday, with 50s Tuesday and Wednesday. 60s return for Thursday and Friday into the weekend. Lows will be in the 30s and 40s.

Click here to see the Beach Forecast Center page.

DANCING WITH THE STATS: A record high for the date of 52F on Friday at International Falls, Minnesota. Remember when it used to be the nation’s icebox? And those very cool Die Hard battery commercials?

ADVERTISE WITH US: Deliver your message to a highly engaged audience by advertising on the AlabamaWX.com website. We have a lot of big plans for this year. Don’t miss out! We can customize a creative, flexible, and affordable package that will suit your organization’s needs. Contact me, Bill Murray, at (205) 687-0782 and let’s talk.

WEATHERBRAINS: This week, the panel will entertain the inestimable Greg Carbin who will be presenting his annual year in review of Meteorological Memories. It will be the first time he has given the talk this year. And mark your calendar for a special live show Thursday morning at 9 a.m. as we entertain the legendary Tom Skilling, who is retiring after 45 years at WGN Chicago. Check out the show at www.WeatherBrains.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes. You can watch the show live on our new YouTube channel for the show.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 2000: Some terrifying video was shot by cameraman Cyril Samonte and ABC3340’s John Oldshue of ABC3340 as an F4 tornado passed between the JVC plant and the Hampton Inn at the Cottondale Exit off I-59 near Tuscaloosa, AL. John ran for cover in the Hampton Inn, not expecting the rear entrance to be locked. Fortunately, the well-prepared hotel staff let him in and the video shot in the hallway of the hotel as the tornado passed over was extremely compelling. Follow my weather history tweets on Twitter. I am @wxhistorian at Twitter.com.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Severe Weather