WARMING UP: Temperatures are in the 50s across most of Alabama this afternoon with a mostly sunny sky; we note Mobile has reached the low 60s at mid-afternoon. Tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the 35-45 degree range.
Tomorrow will be a sunny and very pleasant day with highs mostly in the 60s, although some South Alabama communities will reach the low 70s.
Clouds will increase Thursday, and rain will move into the state late Thursday night into Friday. A thunderstorm is possible, but severe storms are not expected due to the lack of surface based instability. By Friday afternoon rain will be confined to the southeast counties of the state as dry air moves in from the west. The weather will stay mild with highs in the 65-72 degree range.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The weather looks excellent; lots of sunshine Saturday and Sunday with highs mostly in the 60s, but again South Alabama could rise into the low 70s. Lows will be mostly in the 40s.
NEXT WEEK: Spring-like weather continues through the week with highs in the 60s and 70s; global models continue to suggest rain will move back into the state at the end of the week by Thursday and Friday. The air will be somewhat unstable by then, but it is way too early to know if severe storms will be an issue. See the video briefing for maps, graphics, and more details.
ON THIS DATE IN 2014: “Snowmageddon” crippled much of North/Central Alabama for several days. It was only about 1 to 2 inches of snow, but temperatures were in the 17-22 degree range as the snow fell. After initially melting due to warm soil temperatures, we had a “flash freeze”, putting down a base of ice on all roads, making travel almost impossible. The 1-2 inches of snow basically produced travel conditions you would expect from a crippling ice storm (a long duration of freezing rain).
Travel went from difficult to impossible, cars were left in the middle of highways as people changed from a “get home” mindset to a “survive” mindset. Thousands of kids were stranded in schools, countless adults spent the night in their office, some spent over 20 hours stuck in their vehicle on Interstate highways. Families were separated, and this developed into a full blown civil emergency; a humanitarian disaster.
A Civil Emergency Message was issued by the NWS at the request of EMA at 11:27 a.m. And, the night before, while we forecast light snow, we expected “no major travel issues” in the Birmingham metro. A reminder we still have much to learn in impact forecasting.
Look for the next video briefing here by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow…
Category: Alabama’s Weather, ALL POSTS, Weather Xtreme Videos
