Another Cold Night Ahead

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While we warmed up nicely today with a sunny sky, temperatures will drop quickly tonight with a clear sky and light wind. There is a chance we will have frost again today, mainly over East Alabama, with temperatures down in the 32 to 37 degree range. West Alabama will be closer to 40 as winds begin to pick up out of the south. Just keep in mind some of the colder spots near the Georgia border could very well have a light freeze at daybreak tomorrow.

WARMER DAYS AHEAD: Great weather is ahead tomorrow and Thursday, with lots of sunshine each day. We reach the low 70s tomorrow, followed by mid 70s on Thursday.

MORE FRIDAY STORMS? The 12Z GFS is a little slower with our end of the week system. It now suggests the main window for thunderstorms will come from about 3:00 p.m. Friday through 3:00 a.m. Saturday. The NAM shows a surface based CAPE of only 104 j/kg at 6:00 p.m. Friday, with a surface dewpoint of 57. Lets hope that model is correct, meaning the atmosphere is not really ripe for severe storms this time. But, the GFS shows a more dynamic system with higher dewpoints. Looks like most folks can expect one-half inch of rain, with isolated amounts to one inch.

OUR WEEKEND: The weekend looks just fine, with dry and mild weather conditions Saturday and Sunday. The GFS MOS suggests a high of 72 Saturday, and 78 on Sunday, which sounds about right since no real Polar air is involved in the end of the week storm system.

We head for the low 80s early next week, and despite increasing low level moisture, any showers Monday and Tuesday should be very isolated with no upper support and warm air aloft. A big upper storm over the western U.S. will be shunted northward into Canada next week, pretty much bypassing Alabama to the north. A weakening front will bring a chance of showers toward the end of next week, but rain should not be all that heavy and severe weather does not look likely.

THE LAND OF VOODOO: The GFS sure is suggesting that upper ridging will be the story across Alabama during the last week of April and into early May. If this is correct, we can expect above normal temperatures and below normal rain, with little if any chance of severe weather. But, you know this is voodoo.

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