Brian Peters Alabama NewsCenter weekend forecast for March 5 from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Central Alabama is waking up to some chilly air this morning with temperatures well down into the 30s. It is colder across the northeast quadrant of Alabama where readings were in the range from 28 to 32. Our Skywatcher at Black Creek reported heavy frost with a temperature of 28. With a generous supply of sunshine today we should see temperatures rebound nicely with highs into the middle 60s.

A short wave trough will move across the eastern US this evening, and while a weak surface front will move through the Southeast US, we are not likely to see much of an impact as the atmosphere remains quite dry. So just a few passing high or mid clouds are expected to mark the passage of the front. Morning lows Sunday will be in the range from 34 to 42 across Central Alabama with those typically colder spots dipping down to freezing.

The upper atmosphere will see a ridge become established over the eastern third of the country from Sunday to Wednesday, a strong ridge at that. Aloft to our west a closed low will dig deeply into northern Mexico. This low is not forecast to eject northward until Friday. It seems that with each model run, the GFS pushes back the time when this low finally comes out of northern Mexico. The GFS develops a surface low along the Mexican coast on Wednesday and moves it northward with the upper low. With the strong ridge holding for the first half of the week ahead, look for highs to climb well into the 70s across Central Alabama with morning lows in the 40s Monday and Tuesday and 50s for the rest of the week. This pattern is expected to set up a very wet pattern for the Lower Mississippi Valley area encompassing Louisiana, Arkansas, and eastern Texas with rainfall amounts potentially reaching the 4 to 7 inch range.

A significant upper trough will rotate around the upper closed low on Friday and Saturday, setting the stage for some stormy weather across the Southeast US. Rain chances will begin to increase on Thursday with good chances for rain coming Friday and Saturday. Storms may be strong on Saturday as that short wave ejects northeastward ahead of the deep closed low over Southwest Oklahoma. CAPE values are projected to be in the 1200 to 1500 j/kg range Saturday at midday. Even with the clouds and rain chances, temperatures will be mild with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the lower half of the 50s.

Looking out into voodoo country, that short wave zips to a position just off the New England Coast on Monday as that deep closed low slowly weakens as another closed low comes quickly out of the Rockies into the Central Plains. It will move steadily eastward into the Atlantic by Friday with another closed low coming across the Plains States on Friday. The parade of upper lows continues March 20th with yet another one situated over the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle area. While week 2 looks active there does not appear to be any signs of any extreme cold.

I had a great time hanging out with the 5th grade at Wilsonville Elementary on Thursday afternoon helping to promote reading. I read several stories from Dr. Seuss, and we had an opportunity to talk a little bit about being a meteorologist. Great bunch of kids, and I thank them and their teachers for the invitation.

For more weather news and information from Brian Peters and the rest of the James Spann weather team, visit Alabama WX.