MERRY CHRISTMAS: This is the day those of us that are Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I hope all of you have a little time today to reflect on what this is all about. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. I hope you and your family get the chance to spend some quality time together today and enjoy the true joy of this day.
**This discussion is a “cut and paste” from the public seven day forecast over on the abc3340.com site. I will have a Weather Xtreme video and more later today**
FRONT STALLS: A surface front is forecast to stall out somewhere over Central Alabama today, keeping our sky generally cloudy. And, we will mention a chance of some light rain at times with the front nearby. The best chance of seeing sun today will be to the north, over the Tennessee Valley of extreme North Alabama. The front will move slowly northward tonight as warm front, which means a pretty decent chance of showers along and north of the boundary. Highs today will be a little cooler, most places will top out around 60 degrees.
TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND: Breezy and warmer weather is the story tomorrow; any showers should be widely spaced, and afternoon temperatures will soar into the low 70s. Then, over the weekend, another cold front will bring another round of showers and thunderstorms to Alabama. At this point it looks like the best chance of organized showers and storms will come Saturday night into Sunday morning. The rain should diminish by midday Sunday, followed by cooler and drier air that settles in here for the first few days of next week. Highs will drop into the 50s by Sunday afternoon with a cool north breeze.
YESTERDAY’S STORMS: Tornado warnings were issued for Tuscaloosa and Walker counties late yesterday; an unconfirmed tornado was reported just south of Jasper near the intersection of Alabama Highway 69 and County Road 124; a church was damaged and a number of trees were blown down in the area. Trees were also blown down over parts of North Tuscaloosa County. The storms diminished quickly after 6:00 p.m. as the best dynamics moved well to the north of Alabama.
CHRISTMAS DAY 1989: Record cold over the Southeast. The mercury plunged to zero at Wilmington NC and 5 degrees at Jacksonville FL, both all-time records for those locations. Temperatures plunged to 22 degrees in Orlando FL, with reading in the teens recorded in some of the normally colder locations. Major damage was caused to citrus crops in the area. Tallahassee FL has a trace of snow, the first time that ever occurred on Christmas Day.
CHRISTMAS DAY 1983: Coldest Christmas Day of record in the central and eastern United States. More than 125 record low temperatures for the date. 24 of those records were all-time records for the month of December. Galveston TX recorded 14 degrees and Huntsville recorded a low of 1 degree below zero. Birmingham’s low that morning was 2 degrees above zero.
