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STORM ALERT 2009: Hey… don’t forget our annual severe weather awareness tour comes to Trussville this week. We will be at the Trussville Civic Center Thursday at 7:00… bring the whole family. You can meet our entire weather team, get some cool stuff to take home, see some amazing Alabama weather stories, and learn more about the DTV change that happens later this month. This is the only Birmingham metro show we are doing this year… we hope to see you there. The doors will open at 5:00; be sure and come early for a good seat!
COLD IS THE WORD: While we will still maintain some risk of scattered sprinkles or flurries today, cold weather is the big story through mid-week. We will reach the mid to upper 40s today with a mix of sun and clouds, but colder air rolls in here tonight and tomorrow. Guidance is trending colder, and we will need to follow that trend in our forecast.
The low early tomorrow will be very close to 20, and despite a sunny sky tomorrow, it looks like we won’t make it out of the 30s. The GFS is printing 39, while the NAM is colder with a high of 37 tomorrow. Factor in a north wind gusting to 25 mph at times, and our wind chill index will be below freezing much of the day.
HARD FREEZE EARLY THURSDAY: Looks like we need to revise our low temperature forecasts for early Thursday down into the 14 to 19 degree range. The coldest valleys across Northeast Alabama have a chance to see 8 or 9 degrees (Valley Head, etc). The good news is that a warming trend begins Thursday afternoon as we rise into the upper 40s.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: The warming trend will continue; we will see a high near 60, with highs over the weekend in the 60 to 65 degree range. The weather will stay dry, with a partly sunny sky on Saturday and Sunday.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: A strong storm system will come out of the Rockies Monday, possibly setting up a severe weather event for the Southern Plains, but it should weaken and pass north of Alabama Tuesday. We will continue to mention a chance of showers on Tuesday (one week from today), but the latest GFS hints it might not be a major rain event with the system weakening. That is still seven days out, of course, so that could change.
VOODOO COUNTRY: The GFS continues to advertise an interesting pattern at mid-month, with shallow cold air in place around here, and an active southern stream. That is an icy pattern for someone; we sure hope Arkansas and Kentucky don’t have that problem again; they are still struggling to recover from the first ice storm last week.
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TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.
Yep, busy again today. I will be doing a weather program this morning at Kermit Johnson Elementary School in Pinson, then a “Lunch with Mr. James” at Chelsea Park Elementary. I will be in the office after that, and the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30. Enjoy the day!
