James Spann: Dry weather continues for Alabama through Saturday

James Spann: Alabama stays dry until Sunday brings rain from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
COLD START: Our Skywatcher at Black Creek, just northeast of Gadsden, reports a frigid 19 degrees early this morning with a clear sky and light wind. Most other locations across north and central Alabama are in the 20s.
Today will be sunny with a high in the low to mid 50s this afternoon. Tomorrow will be dry again with sunshine through scattered clouds and with a high in the 50s; then colder air slips in here Friday with some clouds and a high down in the 45- to 49-degree range.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: We begin the day Saturday with sub-freezing early morning temperatures mostly in the 20s, then expect a high in the mid 50s with ample sunshine. Clouds will increase Saturday night, and Sunday will be wet at times with periods of rain and possibly a thunderstorm as a short-wave upper trough moves in from the west. Some thunder is possible, but no severe weather is expected. Rain amounts will be pretty close to 1 inch for most places. Sunday’s high will be in the 50s.
NEXT WEEK: Rain could linger into Monday morning, and clouds linger much of the day. For now, midweek looks dry with seasonal temperatures; there’s some hint of rain returning toward the end of the week.
THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS WEATHER: We won’t have a real decent “first look” until this weekend, but looks like cold air will be just northwest of Alabama, and global models continue to suggest we could be in some rain around Dec. 25. Some wintry weather will be possible northwest of Alabama.
BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.
WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including meteorologists at ABC 33/40.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks:
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Instagram
Pinterest
Snapchat: spannwx
For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.