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As expected, we are enjoying a nice warm-up today across Alabama as a big time nor’easter continues to pound New England. Birmingham (the Airport observation) is reporting 70 degrees at 2:00; that is 36 degrees warmer than our morning low, and a great sign of a very dry airmass. We are still getting a pretty good breeze coming around the major storm near Long Island; winds are gusting to 20 to 25 mph over the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama. The sky is clear with maximum sunshine.
Check out this observation from Mount Washington, New Hampshire, at 8:00 CDT this morning:
MT. WASHINGTON BLWGSNOW 25 25 100 E108G138 N/A VSB 0 WCI 0
That means the temperature was 25, the dewpoint was 25, winds were out of the east averaging 108 mph with gusts to 138 mph. Visibility was zero. What a Monday morning.
Just received this note from a reader:
“Hello, James:
Just a bit of weather news from up yonder…My sister in Raymond, New Hampshire just called me. They are inland, on the Lamprey River; they are near Manchester. The river is 5 feet higher than anyone has ever seen it. Roads and 200+ year old granite stone bridges are washing away…that far INLAND…she said there is more to come, and they have just been placed under a state of emergency.
Lottie Duff”
Scroll down to read more on this storm… J.B. has some great information.
THE WEEK AHEAD: While tomorrow will be dry with a high in the mid to upper 70s, clouds return quickly tomorrow night in advance of a weakening upper trough. This will bring the risk of a few passing showers from about 3:00 a.m. Wednesday through 12:00 Noon Wednesday. Unfortunately, rainfall amounts should be light due to limited moisture and weak dynamics. The 12Z NAM is printing only 0.13″ for Birmingham, and the GFS is a little more aggressive with 0.33″. The HPC QPF graphic shows between 1/2 and 3/4 inch for much of the state, but once again that seems to be overdone. The showers will end early Wednesday afternoon.
Thursday and Friday will be pleasant days with ample sunshine, mild afternoons, and cool nights. The GFS is showing 42 for Birmingham early Friday; some of the colder valleys will probably reach the 30s. Afternoons will be comfortable, with upper 60s on Thursday and 70s on Friday.
WEEKEND PEEK: At this point we see no significant chance of rain over the weekend. Looks like lots of sunshine on Saturday and Sunday with a high between 75 and 80 degrees.
LONG RANGE: Looking out into voodoo land, the GFS shows a weak front approaching Alabama that might bring a few showers Monday night or Tuesday of next week. But, the next really good rain event now shows up around Thursday April 26. Then, an upper ridge builds which will hopefully provide a dry weekend for the races at the Talladega Superspeedway. Way too early for a specific forecast, however.
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 have some great pictures of the snow up in East Tennessee; I will post those in a few minutes. And, I sure enjoyed seeing everyone at the Exceptional Center today, along with the many volunteers at Trinity Medical Center. Thanks for the opportunity… I will have the next Weather Xtreme video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!
