Archive for December, 2009

Rainfall is on the increase across much of Central/South Alabama at this time as a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico aids in lift for precipitation development. This area of rainfall will expand and get heavier over the next several hours as it continues to spread across the entire area. Amounts of 1″+ are possible south of the I-20/59 corridor throughout the day today. Parts of South Alabama have been submerged with recent heavy rainfall episodes and flash flood watches have been required. Fortunately, this system should move out of here by ;ate Friday with colder air spilling in behind it. Some rain or snow showers are possible later Saturday into Saturday night.

Christmas week looks to be very interesting in the weather department…..we will get to that after we deal with this rain maker.

WxWarn! All new software designed to warn you of severe weather! Tired of trying to find that one program that will alert you to just warnings and just for your state or a state you choose? What about color coded warnings so you can quickly find the most dangerous, such as tornadoes? Linked directly to NOAA to make sure you get the most accurate and up to date data! This program was designed just for you!

WxWarn V1.0 Features Include:
– User defined Audible Alerts.
– User defined color coding.
– User defined refresh rate from 1min to 12min.
– ForceUpdate of warnings.
– Links to all warning details.

Well, some areas of Central Alabama south of I-20 were expecting some winter weather and slight snow accumulations last evening. However, this didn’t occur for many….especially east of I-65. Wonder why? Well, just above the surface the 00z BMX sounding above shows a VERY dry layer of air that caused much of the heavier precip to evaporate before reaching the surface. While precipitation did eventually get to the surface….it was mostly rain for many areas. The thermal profiles were slightly too warm since the precipitation was lightening up when reaching eastern areas. Had the atmosphere been isothermic when the heavier bands reached the area…we likely would have received 1-3″ snowfall totals around southeast of Birmingham. Don’t you love how the cookie crumbles?

Some areas to the north did receive a surprise dusting to 1.5″ snowfall around the Huntsville/Cullman areas. Model forecasts kept most of the snowfall south of this area. This is another prime example of how difficult it is to forecast winter weather events across the deep south.