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The cold front which moved through Central Alabama yesterday has stalled out across the Southeast corner of the state in the vicinity of Dothan. Nice temperature contrast across the state with 66 at Dothan and 34 at Muscle Shoals. Because the front is nearly parallel to the upper flow, it is unlikely that it will push much further south. This should result in a band of clouds covering the Central Alabama sky today. I suspect we’ll see a few peeks at the sun especially this afternoon but don’t be looking for a bright sunny afternoon. In fact, with the low level moisture it’s not out of the question to see a few sprinkles but nothing significant.
The front will push back north a bit Sunday as another upper trough passes with a weak surface low at the surface. This should result in rain chances popping back on the scene tonight and Sunday. Once again, though, everything is moving fairly quickly so the rain should be moving out of Central Alabama by late morning and early afternoon. Rainfall amounts could be in the two inch range, but the heavier amounts are likely to be in a narrow band in the area between Birmingham and Dothan. And rainfall will drop off rapidly as you get further north.
Then comes the Arctic express as we enter 2008!! A long wave trough develops across the eastern US on New Years Day with a strong northwesterly flow that will bring some of the coldest air we’ve seen so far this season. By Wednesday morning daytime lows are expected to be around 20 degrees which means those colder valley locations could be flirting with readings around 10 to 12 degrees. Dry conditions means no chance for any wintery weather. And the afternoon highs will be struggling to reach the lower 40s for the first couple of days of the new year.
But one of the nice things about the Southeast and Alabama is that the temperatures usually recover fairly quickly. By the end of the week we should see temperatures back to seasonal values with lows in the lower 30s and highs in the lower 50s.
The GFS maintains a progressive pattern with a continuation in the series of upper air disturbances. One is expected around January 8th, 11th, and 13th. The GFS is teasing us out there at the end of the cycle with a lower latitude surface low which depicts the potential for winter weather in the Southeast – but that’s deep voodoo and I refuse to be teased!!
The next Weather Xtreme Video should be posted by 8 am or so on Sunday. I hope that you have a great weekend. God bless.
-Brian-
