Cold, Wet, Icy Day

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WATCH FOR BRIGE ICING: This is going to be one of those days where it looks like just a cold and rainy day as you look outside the window, but we are still concerned that ice will form on bridges in a few spots, making for some tricky travel as the day progresses.

THIS MORNING: We are hearing reports of a light glaze of ice in East Mississippi in places like Columbus and Starkville, where temperatures are generally between 30 and 32. Bridges in Lowndes County, Mississippi (Columbus area) are being salted now by MDOT trucks. In Alabama, we are also hearing of some ice on exposed surfaces over Pickens County. Our Skywatcher in Coker, west of Tuscaloosa, reports 34 degrees with some light rain at 5:00.

REST OF THE DAY: The light precipitation will spread northeast. We note the air in the low levels is still very dry; the dewpoint in Birmingham at 5:00 is only 10 degrees. This means we will probably see a little sleet as it begins, and it also means temperatures will drop a bit initially due to the evaporative cooling process (wet bulbing).

We now believe the greatest chance of significant bridge icing will be north of a line from Sulligent to Gardendale to Jacksonville. However, south of that line there could be a few icy spots as well. There is certainly concern over the Birmingham interstate system, which is mostly elevated through the downtown area.

So, again, everybody over North Alabama will just need to be very careful on bridges and overpasses today. Doesn’t take much with the cold infrastructure for ice to form. We just received word from the NWS in Birmingham that they will be issuing a freezing rain advisory for the potential for icy spots on bridges….

The good news is that this isn’t a long term problem; temperatures will rise steadily tonight, and even the cold northeast part of the state should be above freezing by 9:00 p.m.

TOMORROW: Much warmer. Cloudy with periods of rain, and a high in the upper 50s. Some spots south and west of Birmingham will see the low 60s. Quite a contrast to the Arctic chill of recent days.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: The front drops south again and we turn colder on Friday with temperatures in the 40s most of the day. Some scattered light rain will remain possible.

A rather challenging forecast for the weekend… most major models have backed off on the intensity of a surface low that will form in the Gulf of Mexico, and it is farther south. This means any precipitation over Alabama Saturday should be light. The air might be cold enough to support some snow over the far northern part of the state, but most of the precipitation is to the south. For now we will just mention some light rain at times on Saturday with temperatures only in the low to mid 40s.

Sunday will feature clearing and colder weather with a high only around 40 degrees and a very chilly north wind.

CHRISTMAS WEEK: Still too early for a Christmas forecast. Looks like the first part of the week will be generally cool and dry. The 06Z operational GFS shows some pretty cold air dropping in here toward the end of the week; see the Weather Xtreme video for details.

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I will be doing a weather program at Riverchase Elementary later today… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

Tags: freezing rain, sleet

Category: Alabama's Weather