The Thursday morning edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and also on iTunes:
How about J.B. making posts at 2:45 and 4:54 a.m.! Scroll down and read his updates on the global cooling across the fruited plain.
THE ALABAMA STORY: One last mild day for Alabama; we rise into the 70s today with a strong south wind developing ahead of the approaching front. A few showers will be around today, but the main band of showers and storms will hold off until tonight. We still project most of the stronger storms in here between 6:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.
The Storm Prediction Center maintains a slight risk of severe weather for Alabama tonight, but as we have discussed here for days the surface based instability is hardly there. But, with excellent dynamics a line of storms should move through with some potential for damaging winds. And, a rotating storm is not out of the question. Remember, when it comes to thunderstorms expect the unexpected.
A COLD CHANGE: The leading edge of the Arctic air will ease into Northwest Alabama early tomorrow morning. For Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, we figure we will be close to 40 degrees at daybreak tomorrow; we probably drop into the mid to upper 30s by mid-morning, and then “warm” into the low 40s by afternoon as the sun breaks out. Bottom line is that we will hover somewhere between 35 and 42 degrees all day with an icy north wind. You can add a few degrees to those numbers for areas to the east, like Anniston and Gadsden. By Saturday morning we will be in the 25 to 30 degree range. Quite a change from the mild weather we have enjoyed of late.
THE WEEKEND still looks cool and dry. A fresh shot of cold air begins to move in late Sunday and Sunday night, and that will drive us well down in the 20s both Monday and Tuesday morning of next week.
NEXT WEEK: Another upper trough will swing through at mid-week, but the air looks too dry for any significant amount of precipitation at this time. A fresh supply of colder air moves in by Thursday and Friday, so we are talking temperatures below normal for at least the next seven days.
LOTS OF WEATHER NEWS: Keep up with the latest weather-related news stories on the big mid-America storm on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. You can register and submit links and vote on them as well. Pretty nifty.
Needless to say we will be keeping an eye on the sky tonight; I am sure J.B. will have a fresh pot of coffee and will be ready for blog duty. I have another busy today… I will be at the ground breaking for our Habitat for Humanity house in the west part of Birmingham this morning, and then later in the day I will be visiting the students at Brighton Elementary School. I should be able to get the afternoon Weather Xtreme video posted close to 3:30, maybe a few minutes late. Enjoy your Thursday!
