Patches of Blue and Stratocu

Just a quick update on Alabama’s weather on this Christmas Eve:

Visible satellite imagery shows that blue skies have broken through over much of the state. Skycams back up this thought. Looking at the imagery, you an see “streets” of stratocumulus clouds from south of Huntsville southward through Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery down to about Greenville. These have formed as a result of sunshine warming the lowest layer of the atmosphere and making it slightly unstable. The streets form thanks to the low level flow which is west to east ahead of the surface trough and cold front.

That front is over Northwest Alabama extending back into Mississippi south of Jackson. Some deeper convection is located along the convergence zone of the front, but radars show that it has been unable to produce any precipitation.

The only rain left in the state is down around Dothan in the southeast corner.

Temperatures are in the middle 50s in the I-20 corridor and will warm a couple of more degrees for the afternoon highs. Most locations will be back in the upper 40s to near 50F by morning. Skies will be partly cloudy overnight, although I suspect some low clouds and fog may fill back in as the moisture is not going to be really scoured out by this front, that will stall across Central Alabama.

The threat of severe weather seems more like a cruel April Fools Day joke than a Christmas present, but damaging winds and tornadoes are a very real possibility for tomorrow and one that everyone in Central Alabama must take seriously.

Scroll down for more information on tomorrow’s severe weather situation and check back frequently for updates this afternoon, overnight and all day and all night Tuesday night.

Category: Alabama's Weather