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CHRISTMAS EVE EVE: Guess I need to begin my Christmas shopping. I do prefer to shop on Christmas Eve… you know, Walgreens is open to midnight tomorrow night! Actually, I will be shopping tonight and tomorrow. People seem to be in a better mood and more relaxed. A guy thing, I guess.
RIGHT NOW: We do have echoes on radar, but 95.5 percent of that is not reaching the ground since surface dewpoints are still hovering around 10 degrees across our state (the Birmingham dewpoint at 6:00 is 9). I guess we might hear one or two reports of sleet, but no travel issues at all. The day will be mostly cloudy with some risk of sprinkles this afternoon and a high in the 50s.
CHRISTMAS WEATHER: Winds will increase out of the south tomorrow, helping to push temperatures into the upper 60s by afternoon. We will continue to mention the risk of showers during the day, but it looks like the most organized band of showers and storms will blow through here tomorrow night; I hope Santa brings his umbrella. No severe weather, just occasional showers and possibly a thunderstorm.
Watch the Weather Xtreme video, and you will see the 06Z GFS is suggesting all of the rain will end by daybreak Christmas morning; the model even suggests some clearing, and if the 12Z runs confirm this, we will drop the mention of showers on Thursday. Temperatures will be above 10 degrees cooler, with a high close to 60 degrees for most communities. Not bad for a ride on those new bikes.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Temperatures will warm to near 70 on Friday and Saturday with a steady southerly flow and a chance of showers. Severe weather could be an issue to the northwest of Alabama on these days, but the dynamics will lift well to the north of Alabama, so by the time the main band of showers and storms gets in here Saturday night, the chance of organized severe weather looks rather small at this point. Then, cooler and drier air slips in here Sunday and Monday with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s; the looks like we might be able to remove the chance of rain on these days if model trends continue.
INTO THE LAND OF VOODOO: Not much change in our thinking; see the Weather Xtreme video for a look at the colder possibilities with the negative NAO flip into early January. I get the idea it could be a pretty cold month for Alabama with potential for winter weather mischief along the way. Remember, our two big brains, J.B. Elliott and Dr. Tim Coleman, have been suggesting we will have potential for a few winter storms this season with such brutally cold air covering the continent, all the way across the North Pole to Siberia.
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Remember, we are on a holiday schedule through next week, so just one Weather Xtreme video per day. But, I will write an afternoon forecast discussion here at some point this afternoon. Enjoy the day!
