Archive for February, 2010
Why The Clouds?!
February 7th, 2010 | 
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Potential Winter Weather Event Late Week
I said earlier that I wasn’t going to talk too much about it, but after going over the model forecast guidance this morning I have been a bit inspired by what I have been seeing. I will go ahead and get into the system just a bit, but I will caution you that winter weather forecasting more than 2-3 days in advance is just pure speculation at this point. So….on to the maps! First we will start with our 2PM regional temps this afternoon.
We are still looking at a rainy system coming in Tuesday with temperatures in the 40′s/50′s during that event so precipitation will remain all rain during that time frame. Some of the rain could be locally heavy causing some of the more prone areas to deal with some slight flooding issues. I don’t foresee this as being a huge rain maker, but 1″ or rain is possible.
Now, to the main feature during the period. Morning guidance has came in alot wetter than some of the previous packages. We are looking at a situation where cold air will blow in after the Tuesday system. Another southern stream wave will begin to organize over Texas by late Wednesday into Thursday and allow for surface pressure falls and rain to spread over the Texas area into the Gulf. As of now, our temperature profiles are beginning to look cold enough that we could deal with some snowfall across portions of Central/North Alabama especially on Friday. We’ll post a couple of model images below…
While we won’t be able to give a more specific forecast until around Wednesday….we are thinking that there will be wintery weather across our state as we head into next weekend. Stay tuned with us for further updates as we approach this potential winter storm situation.
Clouds Hang Tough
Rainfall will develop across Central Texas later today where some hail will be possible as cold mid level temperatures overspread the region. This system will move eastward across the Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast states on Tuesday and bring rainfall to Alabama. Amounts of around 1″ will likely be common as with our past couple of systems. Localized flooding could once again be an issue given the saturated grounds…especially along river basins.
After the first system ejects….cold/dry air will set firmly in place across the state through the end of the week. At this time…another potential weather maker will develop across Texas during the day on Thursday and move eastward into the Gulf of Mexico. This system has the potential to bring some precipitation to Alabama. At this time, I won’t put that into the forecast because the dry air at the lower levels could keep rain or snow from reaching the surface. However, this could change in later forecasts. Just keep in mind that we are monitoring the potential for a storm system at the end of the week that could bring frozen precip. More later…
Wind Advisory….Heavy Rains Continue
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 708 PM CST THU FEB 4 2010 ...WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TONIGHT... ALZ011>015-017>050-051200- /O.NEW.KBMX.WI.Y.0004.100205T0108Z-100205T1200Z/ MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN- CHEROKEE-CLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR- TALLADEGA-CLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON- COOSA-TALLAPOOSA-CHAMBERS-MARENGO-DALLAS-AUTAUGA-LOWNDES-ELMORE- MONTGOMERY-MACON-BULLOCK-LEE-RUSSELL-PIKE-BARBOUR- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HAMILTON...SULLIGENT...VERNON... FAYETTE...DOUBLE SPRINGS...JASPER...ONEONTA...GADSDEN... ANNISTON...CENTRE...HEFLIN...CARROLLTON...TUSCALOOSA... BIRMINGHAM...HOOVER...COLUMBIANA...PELHAM...ALABASTER... PELL CITY...MOODY...TALLADEGA...SYLACAUGA...ASHLAND...ROANOKE... LIVINGSTON...EUTAW...GREENSBORO...MOUNDVILLE...MARION... CENTREVILLE...CLANTON...ROCKFORD...ALEXANDER CITY...DADEVILLE... VALLEY...LANETT...LAFAYETTE...DEMOPOLIS...LINDEN...SELMA... PRATTVILLE...FORT DEPOSIT...HAYNEVILLE...WETUMPKA...TALLASSEE... MONTGOMERY...TUSKEGEE...UNION SPRINGS...AUBURN...OPELIKA... PHENIX CITY...TROY...EUFAULA 708 PM CST THU FEB 4 2010 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST FRIDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST FRIDAY. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM. SUSTAINED EASTERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 MPH AND HIGHER... OR WIND GUSTS OF 30 MPH AND HIGHER...ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.
State Wide Soaker
Temperatures area wide are currently in the upper 30′s and low 40′s. I could see temps topping out in the upper 40′s for most locations, but with the clouds and rainfall hanging tough all day long I don’t see much opportunity for a huge warm up. Tomorrow will feature the same type of weather with some opportunity for some wintry mixed precip to the north as the system begins to exit the area.
A cool weekend is on tap with another weather system affecting the area with some interesting precip type chances early in the week. Will we see some snow or ice? We won’t get into it too deep right now, but there is some possibility. It also seems that this pattern is stuck in place so expect a cool/wet weather system every 3-4 days as the southern stream remains active through February.
Have a great Thursday!
Rain Increasing in the Western Counties
Warming Up…A Little Rain?
We will dry out later tomorrow and stay in the 50′s through much of the week with lows dipping down around the freezing mark. The next major storm system down the line will begin to crank up by Wednesday to our west with rain spreading northward across the Gulf Coast states later in the night. We will begin to feel the effects by Thursday with the heaviest rain over the southern 2/3 of the state. Amounts of 1″ will be common with some locally 2-3″ totals toward the south from about US-84 southward.
We will chill off again on Friday with temperatures in the mid 40′s and overnight lows dipping down into the 20′s. This seems to be a continuing pattern with the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation dipping toward the negative territory for much of the month. With an active storm track and cold air coming down the pipe….we will obviously have to keep an eye on any precipitation events that approach over the next 2-3 weeks. Who cares if the groundhog see’s his shadow? We already know it’s going to be COLLLLLLD!
