The Monday morning edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes:
Let me assure our long time blog readers the content here won’t change despite the attention in recent days. We welcome all of the new readers and their comments, but this isn’t going to turn into a political or social commentary. We will stick to weather, and as you know I have never been shy to voice my opinion over difficult weather issues. And, we have open comments here so your opinion is welcome as well; agree or disagree. We just don’t allow profanity or personal attacks. I assure you will know my opinion here long before I get on any national TV or radio show!
I was on a BBC show called “Five Live” last night, and received this note from a listener in Germany: “You were talking about global warming and man’s contribution being rather small compared with the natural happenings – sun, ocean currents etc. I am a paleontologist specialising in paleoenvironment analysis. I hold the same views as you about the current climatic fluctuation. I would like to thank you for having the courage to speak out. In the current politically charged arena of climate, you need to have nerves of steel and a great deal of confidence to stand up and be heard without being accused of “global warming denial”.
We will record a new episode of “WeatherBrains” tonight, and we will get into the issue more; that will be posted on iTunes and the web early tomorrow morning. We really want both sides of the issue to be presented; David Black and Kevin Selle are working on the next couple of shows now. Needless to say, we want Dr. Heidi Cullen to be on the show with us, but we understand she is in Sundance for the premiere of a new film she is in that promotes the idea of catastrophic man-made global warming. I would really like to have a discussion with her; that show would be the perfect venue. You can go to the WeatherBrains site here.
THE ALABAMA WEATHER STORY: The bulk of the rain has shifted to South Alabama this morning, but the clouds linger over the northern half of the state. We might see a little drizzle in spots during the next few hours, but despite the clouds we should be mostly dry this afternoon and tonight. Temperatures will hover in the 47 to 52 degree range all day.
REST OF THE WEEK: The same basic pattern is here; active sub-tropical jet stream overhead; mean upper low over the Southwest U.S. Initially we look dry for most of the week; the mid-week system over Texas is shunted to the south by most models. But remember, this is a very difficult pattern and expect the unexpected. But for now we will roll with a dry forecast for the rest of the week with temperatures remaining below normal; a fresh supply of colder air filters in here Wednesday night into Thursday. GFS MOS continues to look too warm, but this week should not quite as cold as last week overall. We might have some decent intervals of sunshine along the way, but high clouds will be overhead much of the week.
WEEKEND PEEK: At this moment Saturday looks dry and cool; an Arctic front could bring some light rain late Sunday or Sunday night, but much of the weekend looks dry at this time.
INTO VOODOO LAND: There is very little skill in a specific forecast beyond seven days, and that period here is called “voodoo land”. There is skill in pattern recognition, however, and that is why we choose to go there. Next week looks much colder than this week, and watch the video today and you can see how even the GFS is now beginning to forecast a negative NAO as we get into February. The pattern still looks cold and unsettled for the next few weeks.
I have noticed some folks saying “it will never snow again in Alabama”. That is much like the five year old who says “I will never get a cookie again” after repeated efforts to get one from mom, who says no. The atmosphere has been saying no for a few years, but our time will come. This has been a winter to remember for much of the U.S., and it might wind up being one for SOMEBODY across the Deep South before it is over. Lets all take a chill pill and hang on.
WEATHER PARTY: Get the latest weather related news on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. Remember, if you register you can submit links and vote on them to determine what is published. Always something interesting to read over there…
Needless to say, the day is busy for me. I will be on our affiliate radio station in Atlanta this morning (WVFJ-FM, J93.3) at 9:30 a.m. EST to discuss the “Weather Channel”/Global Warming issue… then it is off to Corner Elementary School for a weather program for the students up there. I will be in the office by early afternoon, and there will be some national TV going on from there today and tonight, but I should have plenty of time to get the afternoon blog discussion and Weather Xtreme video produced. As the great weather legend J.B. Elliott says… life goes on….
