An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…
BOO BOO: I forgot my broadcast microphone hardware this afternoon… so the audio on the Weather Xtreme video is a little funny sounding since I had to use the internal mic on this MacBook Pro. I am just glad there is an internal mic!
WINTER RETURNS: As I write this update at 2:45 p.m… our SKYCAM site atop Mt. Cheaha is reporting only 49 degrees, while the SKYCAM atop the Daniel Building in downtown Birmingham isn’t much warmer with 52. Looks like our forecast high temperatures today were too warm, and this cold air advection sure gives credibility to the model temperature forecasts for the weekend.
Here is a quick look at the projected lows for the next several mornings, coming off the 12Z run of the GFS model:
Tomorrow morning 34
Saturday morning 25
Sunday morning 24
Monday morning 24
Once again, the model is bringing the numbers down, and we must do the same in our public forecast over on the seven day planner. This will be the coldest April airmass on record in Birmingham, and weather records here go back to the 1880s. The current record for the coldest April temperature is 26, measured on April 11, 1973. Looks like we have a chance of beating that three mornings in a row. Simply amazing.
There will be periods of clouds tonight and tomorrow with the next surge of cold air, but we don’t expect any rain through the Easter weekend. You will need to plan on a significant freeze Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning. The actual range all three mornings will be from 20 to 30 degrees over the northern half of Alabama; the colder readings will be in the valleys with the warmer ones on the ridges.
NEXT WEEK: We will begin to warm up Monday afternoon, and it still looks like the next chance of rain will come at mid-week. The 12Z GFS is a little faster and weaker with the system, suggesting the best chance might come Tuesday night, but the model tends to be too fast this far out; we will leave the best chance of rain on Wednesday for now.
Deep into voodoo land, the GFS is advertising a chance of rain and storms around April 13 and April 17, followed by another cold snap April 18-19 (but not as cold as the air coming in here this weekend).
WEATHER PARTY: Get all the latest weather news over on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. Be sure and register while you are there; you can submit stories and vote on them to determine what is published on the front page.
I enjoyed speaking to another big management group from McDonalds this morning at the Bessemer Civic Center… and I also had a great crowd this afternoon at Chalkville Elementary School. Be looking for those first graders on the KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News this afternoon at 5:00! The next edition of the Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow… with GOOD AUDIO!
