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HEADED FOR THE 70s: A strong southerly flow will develop across Alabama today, helping to push afternoon temperatures into the low 70s, almost twenty degrees above average values for late December in Alabama. We have a shot at reaching today’s record high, which is 72 degrees (set in 1911). A few widely scattered showers are possible, but most of the day should be rain-free, and a few intervals of sunshine are possible. Tomorrow should be even warmer; we are forecasting a high of 75 tomorrow afternoon, If that is correct, we will beat the current December 27 record high by one degree (74 in 1982).
TO THE WEST: Watch the Weather Xtreme video and see the SPC severe weather threat areas defined for today and tomorrow… some pretty decent action is likely to the west, with storms initially firing late this afternoon in the broad area from Dallas to St. Louis. Those storms will move into Arkansas and Mississippi tomorrow.
OUR WEEKEND: It sure seems like the main band of showers and storms won’t move into Alabama until late tomorrow night, maybe even after midnight, which should greatly reduce any severe weather threat here. And, like recent short waves, the main energy will pass well to the north of Alabama. But, as you know, with thunderstorms expected the unexpected, so we will be watching closely.
For now it looks like our best chance of rain over the weekend will come from around midnight tomorrow night through 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Rain totals of 1/2 inch are likely, with isolated amounts seeing up to one inch, especially over Northwest Alabama.
NEXT WEEK: Monday and Tuesday look dry and pleasant, with highs around 60 on Monday, with mid 60s Tuesday. Mornings will be colder with lows in the 30s. An impulse will bring a chance of showers late Wednesday and Thursday, but for now it doesn’t look like a major system.
LONG RANGE: See the NAO outlook on the Weather Xtreme video; it goes strongly negative as we get deeper into January. I am not that interested in specific model runs… that NAO outlook takes more of an ensemble approach, and it sure hints at a pattern change that could bring one or two major Arctic blasts to the East and Southeast U.S. Looks like an interesting month ahead, but then again, January is always interesting around here.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We are going to record a few episode tonight (yep, a Friday edition!), and it should be posted by 10:30 or so.
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I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas; thanks to Brian Peters for covering the TV shift for me last night on ABC 33/40. I will be working the TV side tonight, but after that I will be on vacation for a while spending some good time with family. I will return on Monday January 5, when we resume our regular “two a day” Weather Xtreme video schedule. Brian will have the video updates while I am away. Happy New Year!
