The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

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YES IT IS….

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle-belling
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friend come to call
It’s the hap-happiest season of all”

STILL DREAMING: No weather issues on this Christmas Eve. A partly sunny sky with a high in the mid 50s; the clouds will thicken tonight ahead of our storm system that will bring down some very cold air for the weekend.

CHRISTMAS DAY: A little scattered light rain will begin tomorrow morning across Alabama, and as colder air is pulled down into the state, we are still forecasting a few periods of light snow or snow showers tomorrow evening into tomorrow night.

This is not the classic “Gulf low” snow setup for Alabama… instead the snow will be squeezed out by the upper trough. There isn’t much moisture to work with, but this kind of setup can coat the ground with snow pretty quickly, especially if there are snow showers involved. And, we have seen forecast soundings from time to time that actually show 100 j/kg of CAPE, meaning the air will be unstable enough for showers of snow. Watch the Weather Xtreme video and you will see the RPM model shows a nice batch of light snow/snow showers over much of North and Central Alabama late tomorrow afternoon.

Seems like the main window for snow will come from about 4:00 p.m. until 12 midnight tomorrow night, and we still forecast a dusting to 1/2 inch, with the best chance of 1/2 inch across higher terrain of Blount, Marshall, Jackson, DeKalb, Cherokee, Etowah, Cleburne, and Calhoun counties. Still, I can’t rule out 1/2 inch somewhere in other spots as well. Most of you won’t get enough snow to make a snowman, but you just might get enough to have a snowball fight (with limited ammo).

SUNDAY: Snow flurries will continue well into the day Sunday as the upper trough phases over the eastern third of the nation. We all know flurries can last much longer than models indicate in this kind of setup. The day will be cold, and we won’t get out of the 30s.

NEXT WEEK: Very cold early Monday and Tuesday with lows in the 17-22 degree range. We begin to warm up Tuesday afternoon, and much warmer air spreads into the state from the south by Thursday and Friday. To the west, a very deep surface low will move from the plains of Colorado up to the Great Lakes, and with excellent upper support we will have to watch for the potential for severe weather outbreak across the Deep South one week from today, New Years’ Eve. Then, cooler air rolls in for the New Year’s weekend. See the Weather Xtreme video for more.

MERRY CHRISTMAS: This will be my last video for 2010… we will be updating the blog, of course, but my next Weather Xtreme video will be produced Monday January 3, 2011. I work some pretty bizarre hours with little sleep, so I always look forward to the week after Christmas for some rest and appreciated time with my family, who allows me the freedom to work this job with the bad hours I love so much. I hope you and your family have a Christmas filled with God’s richest blessings.

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We will keep the blog fresh with updates today and through the weekend… stay tuned…

Tags: Christmas, snow

Category: Alabama's Weather