The Thursday morning edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes:
RIGHT NOW: We do note that the Cheaha SKYCAM shows 31 degrees with some light freezing rain; seems like that is the only place with ice issues this morning. Seems like you have to get above 1,500 feet to find the freezing temperatures. The SKYCAM site in Gadsden, on the mountain overlooking the city, is at 34 with light rain. So, most East Alabama roads and bridges are just wet and most folks will be OK driving in to work this morning.
TO THE EAST: In the wedge of colder air, Atlanta has dropped to 33 degrees at the big airport; I have to imagine some parts of the city, especially the eastern suburbs, are now at 32. Will be interesting to see if bridge icing becomes a problem for them. On eastward, Columbia, SC reports freezing rain with 32 degrees…
REST OF TODAY: Lots of clouds, and the weather will stay cold with a high in the 40s. I can’t help but notice an increase in precipitation again over Texas; this Pineapple Express will be very problematic in coming days; trying to time out the small ripples in the flow is next to impossible. Some light precipitation will be possible at almost anytime due to this, but those ripples generally produce only light amounts.
TOMORROW: Still looks mostly cloudy and cold here; I guess you can’t rule out a few sprinkles or patches of light rain with the southern stream over us, but we believe most of the day will be dry with a high in the 40s. To the west, we will watch a new winter storm unfold over the southwest U.S. This is the system that brought some snow to downtown Los Angeles and the beach at Malibu yesterday.
THE WEEKEND: A major winter storm will impact much of North and West Texas on Saturday with some big time snow… that will extend into Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas. All of this region is already under a winter storm watch. This will move into Alabama on Sunday, and again we believe there will be enough warm air advection for all rain around here. It will be a cold rain with temperatures in the 40s. We will watch for the potential for some snow or ice up around the Tennessee border, however.
NEXT WEEK: The rain should end Sunday night, and to the west yet another wave brings more snow and ice into Texas. I believe that wave has very good potential to spin up a surface wave in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico on Monday. this will bring some risk of precipitation to the Deep South Monday night into Tuesday, and I sure can’t rule out some wintry precipitation across the Deep South. We really need to get the Sunday system in and out of here before we can focus on this. This pattern is very difficult for us to deal with weather systems a day or two in advance, and almost impossible to handle specifics a week in advance.
LONG RANGE: The GFS is full of cold air blasts and interesting southern stream storms during the next 16 days. The pattern favors it, and I continue to believe this will be a winter to remember for much of the southern United States. It is already one for Texas and Oklahoma, and I have to believe we will have some real winter fun and games here before the season is over.
I have gotten e-mails from snow fans who tell me they “know it never snows in Alabama anymore; there won’t be another snowflake in my lifetime”. Remember, this is a very low latitude state much closer to the equator than the pole, snow is not supposed to happen often. But the pattern you have wanted is here, just be patient. Good things happen to those who wait, you know.
WEATHER PARTY: Check out all the weather related news over on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. I see one article over there where somebody on “The Weather Channel” is calling for those of us who believe the warming in recent years is a natural cycle to have their AMS seal revoked. Wow… our friends at the cable network are getting a little one sided and uppity, huh? Sounds like someone needs to take a chill pill.
Thanks as always to J.B. for keeping the midnight oil burning while I took a nap… I will have the next Weather Xtreme video posted by 3:30 or so this afternoon…
