Some Clouds Arrive Late Tonight

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

THIS AFTERNOON: A number of North Alabama communities will fail to reach 40 degrees for the second day in a row. Our Skywatcher atop Lookout Mountain near Collinsville, Vic Bell, reports the high so far today 35… and he doesn’t expect to get any warmer today. The second day in a row with a high in the mid 30s. It is a little warmer down to the I-20 corridor, where Birmingham is reporting 44 degrees at 3:00. We note the dewpoint at Birmingham is only 6 degrees… needless to say this is a very, very dry airmass.

ANOTHER HARD FREEZE: Scroll down for J.B.’s list of lows across Alabama this morning. It was as cold as 13 degrees, and another cold night is ahead. Most places will drop to the low 20s, with teens likely again for the colder spots. Some clouds will invade the state late tonight ahead of a strong disturbance that is now producing some rain over Oklahoma, and a rain/snow mix over Kansas.

SNOW FLAKES?? With such a dry airmass in place, it will be very hard for any snow flake to make it to the surface. Having said that, a few flurries are not out of the question tomorrow morning, but the best chance will be over South Alabama, south of U.S. 80 (Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika). Even down there any snow flakes will be pretty hard to find.

Tomorrow promises to be another cold day; both the GFS and the NAM are printing a high of only 39 for Birmingham… some North Alabama communities might have a hard time climbing above the freezing mark as a new slug of cold air drops southward in the wake of the morning disturbance. The sky will become sunny by afternoon after some morning cloudiness.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: We will start the day Thursday with morning lows between 17 and 22, but a warming trend begins Thursday afternoon as temperatures rise into the mid to upper 40s. Friday will feature a good supply of sunshine with a high in the mid 50s.

SOME WEEKEND RAIN: Another strong system will move into Alabama over the weekend. For now, it looks like the best chance of rain will come from about 2:00 p.m. Saturday through 2:00 a.m. Sunday. The latest model runs have been more aggressive with the rain, suggesting rain amounts of 1/2 to 3/4 inch, along with some chance of thunder thanks to the strong dynamic support.

Then on Sunday, another Arctic blast invades Alabama. Temperatures will fall into the 30s during the day with a stiff north wind, and residual moisture will mean a chance of snow flurries.

VERY COLD EARLY NEXT WEEK: We will be close to 20 degrees early Monday, and the latest GFS is printing a high of only 36 for Birmingham on Monday. Strong north winds will keep wind chill index values in the 20s pretty much all day. Then, by early Tuesday, expect lows in he 15-24 degree range. A slow warming trend begins Wednesday that should last through the end of the week.

CHRISTMAS? Just too early to call Christmas in terms of weather (you will need to discuss your naughtiness with Santa… can’t help you with that either). The negative NAO most likely suggests temperatures below average, but the last few operational runs of the GFS have not shown any seriously cold air in the December 19-23 time frame. We will just have to wait and see.

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.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

I had a great time today visiting with the young children this morning in the Head Start program at Attalla Elementary in Etowah County. Be sure and look for their smiling faces on the Pepsi KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News at 5:00. Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

Tags: cold, flurries

Category: Alabama's Weather