A Cool Change

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CLEARING AND COOLER: In the wake of the line of severe storms that produced wind damage across most North-Central Alabama counties last night, the weather will be calmer and cooler today with a high in the low 70s… about 15 degrees cooler than yesterday, when Birmingham soared to 86 to tie the record high for April 11.

The sky should be mostly sunny, although wrap around clouds could linger well into the day for our friends in Northeast Alabama. Tonight will be clear and chilly, with most places reaching the mid 40s early tomorrow morning.

The weather stays dry tomorrow and Thursday with a good supply of sunshine both days; we reach the mid 70s tomorrow, and by Thursday our high will be close to the 80 degree mark.

STORMY FRIDAY: The next round of showers and storms will come on Friday, and SPC has defined a severe weather for much of the state (see the Weather Xtreme video for the graphics). This one raises more questions than answers at this point… looks like a sliver of surface based instability will be available, but not much shear. So, if we do have severe storms, it looks like the main threat, like last night, will be from straight line winds. In terms of timing, the models are a little slower, and it might be Friday afternoon or even Friday night before the storms arrive. We will be much more specific tomorrow concerning the timing.

COOLER WEEKEND: Not much change in our weekend thinking. The weather will be cooler, with a high close to 70 degrees Saturday and Sunday. The sky should become mostly sunny Saturday as we get into a nice dry slot rotating around a deep upper low near Chicago, and Sunday will be sunny as well. Sunday morning will be chilly with a low well down in the 40s; some of the colder spots might even reach the upper 30s.

NEXT WEEK: The GFS continues to hint that showers could return early in the week on Monday… but the main threat of rain and storms will be northwest of Alabama for the mid-week period. See the Weather Xtreme video for more long range ideas.

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. Due to the active weather last night, we had to move this week’s show to tonight at 8:30 p.m. CDT… it will be available live on uStream, and will be on the web and iTunes by midnight.

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

Will spend lots of time in Tuscaloosa County today… I am speaking this morning at the Merrill Gardens retirement community in Northport, and then I head for Vance Elementary for a weather program. The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

Category: Alabama's Weather