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Winter has arrived in more ways than one! Winter officially began at 6:04 am CST when the sun reached it’s most southward extent. Coincidentally with that long term event, JB Elliott left the refrigerator door open, and very cold air was plunging across Alabama from the northwest. At the observation time of 6 am, it was 63 at Dothan with the front knocking on their door while Muscle Shoals was at 34 – quite the contrast.
So let me sum up today – cold with a stiff northwest wind at 10 to 20 mph with higher gusts. Temperatures steady to falling in the upper 30s and lower 40s.
Tomorrow – a hard freeze with morning lows 15 to 20 and highs only around 41.
But in fairly typical Southeastern US fashion, moderation begins on Tuesday with lows coming up about 10 degrees and highs coming up about 10 to 15 degrees. In the upper atmosphere, two disturbances will zip by to our north. The first one will drag a cold front into Alabama on Wednesday. This means a chance for rain late Tuesday but rain likely to occur on Wednesday.
A second short wave moves out of the Southwest late Wednesday and Thursday. With a stalled front in our area, it means we’ll see a continuation of the cloudy, wet conditions like we’ve see over much of the last several days. So Christmas looks mild and wet for Central Alabama.
Not much changes through Friday and into Saturday when a strong short wave ejects out of the Southwest US and brings another cold front to us by late Sunday.
So while it will be dry and cold today and Monday, it looks like we remain somewhat active in our weather systems through much of Christmas week.
The extended GFS maps and the NAO do not agree. The NAO suggests a return to much colder conditions, but the GFS has a flat pattern that would mean mild weather for the Southeast. So I have very little confidence in the longer term, but after all it is voodoo country.
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Ushering duties at church this morning, so I’ll be bundling up to head out shortly. James Spann will have the next Weather Xtreme Video tomorrow. I have not heard, but he might be going to a holiday schedule with one a day video postings. I thank you for staying subscribed and reading/viewing the Blog. I hope your Christmas is filled with family and friends and the joy the holidays bring. Godspeed.
-Brian-
