James Spann: Cold night, warmer afternoons ahead for Alabama
SUNNY BUT COLD: Temperatures are only in the low to mid 40s over the northern third of Alabama this afternoon despite a sunny sky; the average high for Dec. 7 at Birmingham is 58. Tonight will be clear and cold with winds diminishing; most places will see a low between 27 and 32 early Tuesday.
REST OF THE WEEK: Dry weather continues with mostly sunny days and fair nights. The high will be between 52 and 55 degrees Tuesday, then close to 60 Wednesday, followed by mid 60s Thursday and upper 60s Friday as the warm-up continues.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A cold front will bring a band of showers and thunderstorms into Alabama Saturday. It won’t rain all day, but a strong thunderstorm isn’t totally out of the question with a narrow tongue of surface-based instability available. But for now severe storms are not expected. Rain amounts of around one-half inch are likely. Sunday will be dry and colder with a clearing sky; many communities across north Alabama won’t get out of the 40s with a chilly north wind (much like today).
NEXT WEEK: Quiet weather is the story for the first half of the week, but we are seeing signals in global models suggesting a few strong storms are possible toward the end of the week.
RAIN UPDATE: These are rain totals for the year, and the departure from average:
Muscle Shoals — 69.92 inches (21.2 inches above average)
Birmingham — 69.55 (19.29 above average)
Huntsville — 66.88 (17.14 above average)
Montgomery — 64.5 (15.29 above average)
Tuscaloosa — 62.1 (13.03 above average)
Mobile — 55.19 (6.86 below average)
Anniston — 55.18 (8.72 above average)
ON THIS DATE IN 2006: A tornado tore through Kensal Rise in London. This T4 on the TORRO scale, equivalent to an F-2 on the Fujita scale, injured six people and damaged 150 homes. According to the BBC, the last tornado before this one that caused significant damage in London was in December 1954, in west London.
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