Christmas Time Is Here

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Gotta love ole Charlie Brown and the gang…

“Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all
That children call
Their favorite time of year

Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times
And ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there”

TONIGHT/TOMORROW: Clear and cold weather is the story tonight with most places dropping into the sub-freezing range again early tomorrow. The day tomorrow will be partly sunny with a high in the mid 50s.

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND: After a look at the 12Z/15Z/18Z model data, I really don’t think I am going to change our ongoing forecast that much. The change to light snow will be a little later in the day, and the best chance of getting the ground really white will be over Northeast Alabama. Here are the important points…

*Rain begins during the pre-dawn hours Saturday. Look out the window Christmas morning as the kids are attacking those presents, and it will be raining around here (North-Central Alabama… the I-20/59 corridor).

*The rain will change to light snow late in the day into Saturday night. It now looks like the change won’t happen until sometime after 2:00 p.m. for most places, and it might be after 5:00 in a few spots.

*The snow will be mostly produced by the upper trough, and not a classic Gulf low situation. Not that we expected the classic snow storm setup here; readers know that I have not been bullish on that idea from the get-go. Good dynamic forcing, even with CAA in progress (cold air advection), can get the ground white. In fact, there is evidence that there will actually be a little instability Saturday evening for some convective snow showers.

*For most of the northern half of Alabama, don’t expect anything more than a dusting to 1/2 inch. The best chance of getting that 1/2 inch will be across higher terrain of Northeast Alabama. I would say the chance of 1/2 inch in Birmingham is small, but not impossible if we get some decent snow showers Saturday night.

*We do not expect any travel issues with temperatures above freezing during the day, but be sure and watch for icy spots on bridges Saturday night as we drop into the 20s.

*South Alabama will see mostly rain, but a snow flake or two is possible as far south as U.S. 80 Saturday night, or a line from Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika. No accumulation is expected there.

*Looks like we will probably need to hang on to the chance of snow flurries into Sunday morning, mainly overt the northern third of the state.

*With any event like this, there will be surprises. They are always interesting to watch.

Be sure and watch the Weather Xtreme video for all of the graphics and maps associated with this discussion.

SUNDAY-TUESDAY: Cold is the word. We won’t get out of the 30s Sunday, and the low will be in the 17-22 degree range early Monday and Tuesday morning. A slow moderating trend begins Tuesday afternoon.

LONG RANGE: Still evidence of a decent thunderstorm event around New Year’s Day across the Deep South… we will have to watch for the possibility of a few severe storms as we get closer. See the video for more on long range ideas and the state of the NAO.

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We will be going to a holiday schedule tomorrow through January 2… meaning one Weather Xtreme video per day. I will be working tomorrow, and the video should be posted by 8:00 a.m. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tags: Christmas, snow

Category: Alabama's Weather