The Sunday edition of the Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes:
Wow, what a fantastic turnout at Storm Alert Xtreme. We had nearly 200 people show up for a day of severe weather training plus they got to enjoy the 2007 International Auto Show at the BJCC. It was really nice to put names and faces together with our Skywatchers. Special thanks to Brett McBrayer for allowing us to use the wonderful facilities of the BJCC in conjunction with the auto show.
Looks like we have a couple of days of great weather ahead. The surface low and the cold front that swept through the state yesterday are on the eastern seaboard and we’re getting off to a chilly start on this Sunday morning with temperatures riding in the upper 30s and lower 40s. Clouds remain in place over the northern half of the state though a few spots were seeing some sunshine. Clouds will break up as the day goes on, however, they will probably be slow to clear across the northern 20 percent of the state or so. Look for highs to struggle to reach 60 today and probably won’t where the clouds hold tough.
Monday will see plenty of sunshine but with a frosty start. Temperatures in the lower and mid 30s will climb into the lower 60s by afternoon. And Tuesday should be a good day through the evening hours, but Tuesday will be a transition day as we see clouds increase ahead of the next system. I don’t think we’ll see any rain before early Wednesday.
Wednesday a surface low will move across the middle Mississippi Valley with a cold front projected to be moving through Alabama during the afternoon. Upper level dynamics remain positive for a severe weather episode, and the Storm Prediction Center has outlooked nearly all of Alabama and Mississippi on their 4-to-8 day outlook. What I can’t say at this time is whether the mesoscale features will be there like good instability and abundant low level moisture. This is a stay tuned scenario as the models get closer to the event and become more definitive. The upper level jet feature sure looks good, and as always, it’s going to depend on how the small scale features come together.
After that system passes, we’ll cool down on Thursday and Friday and Saturday with a big shot of cold air forecast for Sunday as a strong short wave comes into the eastern US through the long wave trough. The 540 thickness line is projected to make it all the way to Clanton by Sunday. Moisture will not have a chance to return from the Gulf but the system will probably bring clouds with it or perhaps some light rain across Kentucky and Tennessee.
James Spann will be back tomorrow morning with the next Weather Xtreme Video. I’ve got a busy week ahead with a visit to Moody Elementary School to read to the kids, a talk to a CERT group in Irondale on Thursday, and a career day at Riverchase Middle School on Friday! I hope that you have a great Sunday and a great upcoming week. Be sure to keep up with later forecasts on events by the middle of the upcoming week.
-Brian-
