Stormy Weather Returns Friday/Saturday

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…

Beautiful weather is the story through tomorrow, but stormy times will return on Friday and Saturday, and again Tuesday of next week. This is March in Alabama, you know…

We will rise into the upper 60s today, with low to mid 70s tomorrow. Lots of sunshine both days… doesn’t get much better.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Very unstable air will spread northward into Alabama Friday, and showers and storms should erupt during the day, especially Friday afternoon, continuing Friday night. Some of these storms could be strong to severe, and SPC has all of Alabama in a severe weather risk Friday with very high helicity and instability values. Some model guidance has shown 0 to 3 km helicity values over 500 m2/s2 Friday evening, with surface based CAPE values over 1,000 j/kg. This looks like a setup for cellular supercell type storms, as opposed to a squall line event. That, of course, means a tornado threat.

Instability values remain very high into Saturday, although the highest values begin to shift east and south of Birmingham by afternoon. In fact, SBCAPE values Saturday afternoon soar over 2,000 j/kg over parts of South Alabama and South Georgia.

I should point out that we are not expecting a wash-out Friday and Saturday; in fact the sun should be shining at times. But, just keep in mind any storm that forms on those days could be severe, with potential for large hail and isolated tornadoes.

Sunday will feature sunshine in full supply with a high in the mid 60s. We should go back in the 70s on Monday, with increasing southwest winds during the day.

TUESDAY: Another very dynamic system sweeps through Alabama with yet another threat of strong to severe storms. Lets focus on this one late in the weekend after the Friday/Saturday event is over.

Much cooler air will invade Alabama on Wednesday, followed by a warming trend that begins on Thursday (March 20).

The weather continues to look very active for the rest of March… but no skill in trying to identify specific systems in this kind of pattern in the longer range.

NEED HELP PROGRAMMING YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO? Jason Simpson will be at the Handy TV location on Skyland Blvd in Tuscaloosa today from 11:00 until 12:30… if you are having problems programming your Weather Radio, bring it by and he will be glad to take care of it for you. It can be a little tricky in that you have to have the correct frequency, and county codes for the alarm to work.

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. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left.

I am headed to Gadsden this morning… I will be speaking at the Gadsden Kiwanis Club at midday. Then, I will be back in the office this afternoon, and the next Weather Xtreme video should be posted by 3:30 or so. Enjoy the day!

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