James Spann: Clearing later today, dry tomorrow in Alabama

Published On: 02.03.17 |

By: James Spann

James Spann: Clearing later today, dry tomorrow in Alabama

James Spann: Cold air in the north, rain in the south for Alabama today from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

RADAR CHECK: We have a little light rain and drizzle on radar early this morning across Central Alabama. That will end in a few hours as drier air filters in from the north. In fact, we expect clearing by midday, with much of North/Central Alabama in bright sunshine this afternoon. Cool air remains in place, and the high later today will be close to 50 degrees for most communities.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Tomorrow will be dry with a sunny sky; we start the day in the 25- to 29-degree range, but climb to the mid 50s by afternoon. Clouds return tomorrow night, and the high-resolution North American Mesoscale model hints we could see some patchy light rain Sunday morning. Otherwise, Sunday will be mostly cloudy with a high in the upper 50s.

STRONG STORMS NEXT WEEK: Clouds will hang tough over much of Alabama Monday, with some risk of showers; then, on Tuesday, we look for showers and storms to become more widespread with the approach of a cold front, trailing from a deep surface low near Chicago.

While the main surface low will be well to the north of Alabama, there will be a rather robust upper trough involved, and we will need to monitor the system for the potential of strong to severe thunderstorms. At first glance it looks like a classic cool season “low CAPE, high shear” event, with limited instability but strong veering of the wind with altitude in relation to storm motion.

For now it looks like the main window for stronger storms will come during the afternoon and evening Tuesday, but it is simply too early to really know the small-scale conditions we will have and the magnitude of the threat. Just something to watch for now. Rain amounts of one-half to 1 inch look likely with this system.