CALM DAYS: Clouds have moved into Alabama this morning; temperatures are mostly in the upper 50s and low 60s as the day begins. The sky becomes partly sunny today with highs in the 60-65 degree range.
Expect a cooling trend over the latter half of the week; highs will be in the 50s tomorrow and Thursday, then falling into the 40s over the northern half of the state Friday. Lows will be mostly in the 30s.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: An “Alberta Clipper” will pull in colder air; on Saturday highs will be in the 40s after starting the day in the 20s. The sky will be partly to mostly sunny. Clouds will increase Sunday, and rain is likely statewide late Sunday, Sunday night, and into Monday morning. We note the American global model (GFS) suggests there could be some risk of light freezing rain over far North Alabama Sunday night, but the reliable European global model shows only rain, which we believe is the correct solution for now. The high Sunday will be in the 47-52 degree range.
COLD WAVE NEXT WEEK: Rain ends Monday morning, and temperatures will likely fall into the 30s as a long duration cold wave begins. A few snow flurries are possible over the northeast corner of the state in the colder air, but for now we expect no impact.
The middle of next week will be very cold and dry with highs in the 30s along with lows in the teens and 20s over northern half of the state. Then, global models show strong signals of a surface low forming in the northern Gulf of Mexico by Thursday or Friday (Jan 9/10). This is when we have some potential for “winter mischief” across parts of the Deep South. Who gets snow? How much will fall? This is still ten days out and it is just too early to answer those questions, but the players are certainly on the field.
After this system even colder air will likely arrive by the following weekend (Jan 11/12), which could get temperatures down into the single digits over North Alabama. Everyone will need to prepare for 1-2 weeks of very frigid Arctic air across the Deep South… See the video briefing for maps, graphics, and more details.
NWS SURVEYS: A total of 16 tornadoes have been identified across Alabama Saturday night and very early morning. All of them were rated either EF-0 or EF-1, and most of them were down for only one to three minutes.
In addition to these brief tornadoes, straight wind damage was seen in many counties statewide from the fast moving line of storms.
NWS HUNTSVILLE
Athens (Limestone County) EF-1 (5 minutes)
NWS BIRMINGHAM
Lamar County EF-1 (survey not complete)
El Gezira Road (Harpersville/Shelby County) EF-0 (3 minutes)
Knight Place Road (Lowndes County) EF-0 (3 minutes)
Coosa Island Road (St. Clair County) EF-0 (3 minutes)
Roberts Mill Pond Road (St. Clair County) EF-1 (3 minutes)
Hargrove Lane (Lowndes County) EF-0 (1 minute)
Hope Hull (Montgomery County) EF-1 (5 minutes)
Mt Zion Road (Montgomery County) EF-1 (12 minutes)
Cecil (Montgomery County) EF-0 (2 minutes)
Jackson Road (Macon County) EF-0 (3 minutes)
Shorter (Macon County) EF-0 (9 minutes)
Co Road 8 (Macon County) EF-0 (2 minutes)
Co Road 56 (Macon County) EF-0 (1 minute)
NWS MOBILE
Dees (Mobile County) EF-1 (14 minutes)
Faustinas (Mobile County) EF-0 (1 minute)
ON THIS DATE IN 1963: Cold Arctic air was flowing into Alabama at the surface. To the south, low pressure was in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Moisture was spreading up over the Florida Panhandle and Southeast Alabama. Up at 18,000 feet, a strong trough was rotating toward Alabama. This trough would cut off into a strong upper low over Louisiana.
This would set the stage for an unforgettable New Year’s Eve southern snow storm. The snow would begin during the morning in Birmingham and continue for the better part of the next 24 hours, into New Year’s Day.
An amazing ten inches fell at Bay St. Louis on the Mississippi Coast. Just west of there, people in New Orleans rejoiced to see four and one-half inches of snow on the ground by New Year’s morning. Everyone except Alabama football coach Bear Bryant, who knew his heavily favored Crimson Tide could handle just about anything that occurred in the Sugar Bowl against Ole Miss except for snow. (Alabama won the game by a 12-7 margin)
When it was all over, the Magic City had recorded 8.40 inches of snow, its fifth largest snowstorm ever. Florence picked up 19.2 inches of snow, a record that still stands for the state of Alabama. Huntsville measured 17.1 inches during the storm with 11 inches on the ground New Year’s morning.
Some more notes about that historic storm:
* Literally hundreds of people became stranded at New Year’s Eve parties and had to spend the night with their hosts.
* As much as 14 inches of snow fell across West Central Alabama in South Pickens and North Choctaw County.
* About 5 inches fell in North Mobile County.
* Another zone of heavier snow included 10 inches in East Alabama from about Talladega to Heflin. Eight-inch amounts were common in Central Alabama.
Look for the next video briefing here by 3:00 this afternoon… enjoy the day!
