Midday Nowcast: Mild Weather for the Final Days of 2024

FINAL DAYS OF 2024: It is a mild end to the year with overall dry and pleasant weather across Alabama. Highs this afternoon are above average with mid to upper 60s common as we see a mix of sun and clouds across the state today. Clouds will increase late tonight and tomorrow, and few small showers are possible with an upper trough and weak front passes through the state. Limited moisture means most locations will see no rain. Tomorrow’s high will remain be in the low to mid 60s.

BIRMINGHAM ALMANAC: For December 30th, the average high for Birmingham is 55° and the average low is 36°. The record high is 76° set in 1984, while the record low is 8° set in 1917. We average 0.16” of precipitation on this date and the record value is 1.54” set in 1952.

HELLO 2025: Behind the front, the New Year will start off with a downward temperature trend. Expect dry and colder weather for the second half of this week with highs in the low to mid 50s, and lows in the 25-35 degree range.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday will be cold and dry with a high in the upper 40s for our northern counties, while low to mid 50s are expected for the southern counties. Clouds will increase Saturday night, and rain will likely move into the state during the day Sunday. Rain will be widespread Sunday night, possibly lingering into Monday. A few thunderstorms could be involved, but for now the air looks too stable for any risk of severe storms. Some stronger storms are likely along the Gulf Coast.

ARCTIC BLAST ON THE WAY: The weather pattern for next week becomes very cold as the Arctic floodgates open up and we are likely to see cross polar flow, which will likely lead to our coldest weather in a few years. Highs in the 30s for the northern half of Alabama, with lows potentially in the teens by mid-week. Also by midweek, we could see a surface low in the Gulf of Mexico, and with cold air in place, this could increase our chance of the “S” word for portions of Alabama. This is entirely possible because this is the set-up we look for to produce snow in the Deep South, but of course this is way too early to call.

Once this wave of energy passes, the counter-clockwise flow on the backside of the low will pull much colder air down into the Deep South. When looking at model output data for the January 10-12 time frame, lows COULD fall into the single digits, and highs COULD remain below freezing during the afternoons as well. Typically, the mid to late part of January is the coldest period of the year climatologically for Alabama.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 110.1F at Marble Bar, Australia. The lowest observation was -65.2F at Nera, Russia.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 91F at Hidalgo, TX. The lowest observation was -0F at Northgate, ND.

Tags: ANC, colder, featured, mild

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Social Media