An upper level disturbance moving out of Arkansas is producing widespread cloudiness from eastern Oklahoma into northern Mississippi and North Alabama. Light precipitation is showing up on radar across the northern quarter of Mississippi back into the Memphis area. It is not reaching the ground for the most part, with no surface obs showing snow at this hour until you get to Harrison, AR and Tulsa, OK.
The system is weakening as it runs into the really dry air over the Southeast.
There could be a few light snow flurries today, but they won’t be significant.
The clouds held temperatures up by 3-5 degrees overnight.
Some lows so far this morning…
Birmingham 21F
Tuscaloosa 25F
Gadsden 19F
Decatur 18F
Haleyville 18F
Vic Bell in Scrougeout in Etowah County reports a low of 15F.
We will be 5 degrees or so colder tonight, after struggling to get to 35 today. Areas north of I-20 may not get above freezing Monday.
The overnight run of the GFS still shows a significant accumulating snow for Thursday. This run was a little stronger and a little further north with a surface low, which introduces the idea of rain to the south, snow roughly from Livingston to Calera to Anniston, changing to snow during the evening.
The European model is much lighter with a band of snow sweeping across the state, and less emphasis on the idea of a Gulf low. It shows all snow down to US-80, but less of it.
The 00z run of the Canadian shows an earlier arrival of the snow, with a band of significant snow across Central Alabama, generally in the I-59 corridor.
Bottom line is that Alabama and the Deep South is enveloped in extreme cold that will last for the next several days. A disturbance on Thursday will produce snow for parts of Alabama. The forecast is still up in the air because of the track and intensity of a surface low that could form over the Gulf.
