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COOL IS THE WORD: As expected, temperatures have gone absolutely nowhere across Alabama today. We will hover in the 50 to 55 degree range for the rest of the afternoon, with clouds and a chilly north breeze. All of the “enter your zip code” sites that use raw model data were dead wrong today; the GFS had been advertising highs in the 60s today, but we all know better here. Tim Coleman wrote a great piece on the model’s inability to handle this earlier this week.
OUR WEEKEND: Tomorrow should be colder as the upper trough deepens over the eastern U.S. We will struggle to get out of the 40s tomorrow, with clouds hanging tough and a north wind continuing. Again, the “enter your zip code” sites have been forecasting a sunny day tomorrow with highs in the 60s. This is why humans have to be involved in the forecast process.
The sky will finally clear tomorrow night, and everybody should be in the upper 30s by daybreak Sunday. The wind will keep up through the night, so frost is not expected, and temperatures should be fairly uniform. Sunday will be a bright sunny day, but cool with a high in the mid to upper 50s.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: A good, warm jacket is in order for tonight’s high school games. The kickoff temperature will be around 50, falling into the 40s during the game with a north wind of 5 to 10 mph. Clouds will be around, but no rain is expected. Tomorrow, Alabama hosts South Carolina for homecoming at the Capstone; the sky will be mostly clear at kickoff (6:45 p.m.) with a temperature close to 48 degrees; expect mid 40s by the final whistle. Auburn hosts Kentucky (6:30 p.m. kickoff) with similar conditions; the temperature will be around 50 degrees at kickoff, falling into the 40s during the game. The sky will be generally clear. UAB will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to play Ole Miss tomorrow night (6:00 p.m. kickoff)… the sky will be clear with a kickoff temperature of 51 degrees, falling into the mid 40s by the fourth quarter.
COLD MONDAY MORNING: The surface high should be right on top of us early Monday, setting up a great night for radiational cooling. This means we will probably see a spread from 29 for the coldest valleys, to 40 on the ridgetops. Most places will wind up in the mid 30s, and there is a good chance of frost with no wind.
A warming trend begins Monday afternoon with a sunny sky and a high in the mid 60s. We should reach the low 70s on Tuesday as the dry weather continues. Wednesday looks dry as well, so we have a nice five day stretch of dry weather ahead, something we all need.
The next rain event will come during the latter half of next week; the 12Z GFS hints the rain will come on Friday. Watch the Weather Xtreme video for more on long range/voodoo land ideas.
TROPICS: While the Atlantic remains quiet, Rick in the eastern Pacific is expected to become a powerful hurricane over the weekend. It will approach the Baja peninsula by the middle of next week, but should be weakening at the time as it moves over cooler water.
STORM ALERT XTREME: Want to be trained as a storm spotter? Want to join the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher team? Our annual training event, Storm Alert Xtreme, is coming up on Saturday November 14 at the BJCC during the annual Birmingham International Auto Show. You will be trained by the best SKYWARN trainer in the nation, our own Brian Peters (he has trained over 6,000 Alabama storm spotters over the years). We encourage all of our Skywatchers to attend this every year; you simply cannot get enough training. We will begin at 9:30, and be out by 3:30. And, everyone that attends Storm Alert Xtreme gets free admission to the Alabama International Auto Show. There is no admission charge, and no need to register. Just show up, but get there early for a good seat. We had a packed house last year.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left.
Nice to see a bunch of kids over at Odenville Elementary this afternoon for “lunch with Mr. James”. Brian Peters will have the Weather Xtreme videos over the weekend, my next video will be posted bright and early Monday morning by 7:00. Enjoy the weekend!
