The Monday afternoon edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available on the player below, and also on iTunes:
NOVEMBER SNOW FLAKES: Just got this report from ABC 33/40 Skywatcher Mike McCormick:
“James and gang, for the last 10-15 minutes we have had heavy snow flurries here in Ashland. I got some video but I don’t have anyway to download it…no accumulation though…”.
I also have had reports of light snow this afternoon over Etowah and Cherokee Counties. We had this pegged last week, but gave up this morning when the models looked so dry. Sometimes you have to blow off those models and look out the window. Scattered areas of light snow continues on radar over the eastern third of Alabama from Scottsboro south to Ashland and Roanoke.
Snow flurries will remain possible over East Alabama tonight as a deep upper trough closes off into a upper low near Jacksonville, Florida. That upper low will drift slowly northward through Wednesday, and for now it looks like most of the deeper moisture with it will remain over the Carolinas and the eastern half of Georgia. Rain is likely in those areas tomorrow and Wednesday.
Here in Alabama, most communities will be cool and dry with ample sunshine tomorrow and Wednesday, although some communities near the Georgia border will see clouds at times.
TRAVEL WEATHER ON WEDNESDAY: Much of the nation will have pretty uneventful weather on the big travel day; rain will continue over the Pacific Northwest (where some spots have had their wettest November on record), and through parts of the Carolinas with our storm just off the Atlantic coast. No major airport delays are expected.
THANKSGIVING DAY: Looks nice with a sunny sky and an afternoon high in the 64 to 68 degree range as the warming trend continues.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: More nice weather with dry weather conditions and highs in the 60s. Maybe a few scattered clouds along the way, but a decent amount of sunshine on a daily basis.
LONG RANGE: Snow lovers will be all over the 12Z GFS and the storm system painted in the November 30-December 1 time frame. This run suggests rain changing to snow, with potential for significant snow accumulation on December 1 over the northern half of Alabama (watch the video to see it). Then, very cold air dives in here with potential for record cold, especially if we have a snow cover. But remember, this is VOODOO land. This can be totally bogus. But, remember the GFS called the November 15 tornado outbreak two weeks in advance with amazing accuracy. Can it happen? Yes. Will it happen? We don’t know, and nobody knows. Just stay tuned…
Been watching some Huntsville TV here in the weather office on the Internet; what a tragic bus accident up there on I-565 earlier today. I know those families welcome our prayers.
WINTER OUTLOOK: I will post some more thoughts on the winter season on the blog at some point tonight… I did a long winter outlook back in October; it is time for an update. We are recording a WeatherBrains podcast tonight; I will try and have the new article posted before begin recording at 8:30.
WHERE ARE YOU: Looks like we have overwhelmed Frappr, the service I am using for mapping our blog readers. I think you can only see 501 pins at one time; we have many more that have been submitted. I will try to fix the map so you can see everyone at once… thanks to everyone who took the time to “put yourself on the map”!
I had a great time as always at Stowers Hill Intermediate School today in Attalla; it has become quite a Thanksgiving week tradition. Look for those bright faces on the KIDCAM on ABC 33/40 News tonight at 5:00… they really had some cool signs this year. I will have the next Weather Xtreme video ready by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…
