An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
NO DULL MOMENTS AROUND HERE: After a long, all night severe weather ordeal, our attention turns to potential for snow flakes tomorrow. First off, thanks to J.B., Bill Murray, Jason Simpson, Ashley Brand, Dr. Tim Coleman, and Brian Peters for their help last night. It was a steady stream of tornado and flash flood warnings through the night. Scroll down for the details; seems like we have significant damage around Oakman in Walker County, and in other scattered places across the state. Our SKYCAM in Guin measured over six inches of rain; NEXRAD data suggests widespread amounts of 2 to 3 inches with the rain still falling early this morning. J.B. will have a rain roundup later this morning after a nap!
TODAY: The rain should slowly diminish this morning, and we should have a great from the rain this afternoon and early tonight. Temperatures should slowly fall from the low 60s at daybreak into the 50s today with a northwest wind. The tornado watch for Alabama will expire at 8:00 a.m., and no additional severe weather is expected.
LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW: A cold core upper low will swing through here tomorrow, producing a real headache for those of us in the weather business. This case is a decent analog to the December 1997 surprise snow event, when parts of Mississippi received 8 inches of snow, with amounts to 6 inches into West-Central Alabama around York and Demopolis.
There is no Polar air around here, but cold core systems like this literally generate their own cold air thanks to dynamic cooling from the cold air aloft. Heavy snow can develop right under the cold core, and generally speaking computer models have no clue.
We will mention a chance of light rain late tonight, potentially changing to snow tomorrow. The 06Z NAM and GFS are actually in pretty good agreement; they suggest the sweet spot for snow will be from near Sulligent and Vernon, in Lamar County, south to places like Reform and Tuscaloosa, and then down to Demopolis. To the west, the NWS in Jackson has issued a winter storm watch for much of Mississippi, and this is a situation we will have to watch closely.
Remember, surface temperatures should remain above freezing, and the ground is relatively warm, so most places probably won’t get much on the ground, but right under the cold core upper low I figure 1 to 3 inches is possible on grassy areas. Again, the best chance of this will be in counties like Lamar, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Sumter, Greene, Hale, and Marengo.
This is a very tough call, and things could change, so keep an eye on the blog today and tonight. And, watch the Weather Xtreme video for a more detailed discussion with graphics.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: The sky will become mostly sunny Friday as dry air takes over, and the weekend will remain dry with seasonal temperatures; the high Friday will be close to 50, with highs in the mid 50s over the weekend.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: The trend will be toward milder temperatures here during the latter half of December as the cold upper trough shifts to the western U.S. No sign of any Arctic intrusion with this pattern, and hope for a White Christmas is fading fast, as usual in Alabama.
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.
TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.
I will have the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon…. enjoy the day!
