James Spann: Warmer days ahead for Alabama; rain returns Saturday
James Spann forecasts dry days for Alabama until the weekend from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
COLD START: Here are some temperatures across Alabama just before daybreak:
- Gadsden — 21
- Black Creek — 21
- Haleyville — 23
- Hueytown — 24
- Fort Payne — 24
- Decatur — 24
- Cullman — 24
- Talladega — 24
- Pell City — 25
- Good Hope — 25
- Heflin — 26
- Birmingham — 27
- Anniston — 27
- Tuscaloosa — 29
- Montgomery — 31
- Mobile — 32
Look for a cloudless sky across Alabama today with a high between 52 and 55 degrees; the average high for Birmingham on Dec. 8 is 58. The rest of the week will be dry with sunny days, fair nights and a warming trend. We reach the low 60s Wednesday, and by Thursday and Friday afternoon highs will be between 65 and 70 degrees.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A cold front will push a band of showers and thunderstorms into Alabama Saturday. For now severe storms are not expected due to very limited instability, marginal dynamic support and weak lapse rates. It won’t rain all day, and amounts should be one-half inch or less for most of the state. Otherwise, Saturday will be cloudy with a high in the low to mid 60s. On Sunday, we expect a breezy and colder day with gradual clearing; the high will be in the low 50s with a chilly north wind.
NEXT WEEK: We are cool and dry Monday and Tuesday; global models suggest a chance of rain at midweek. But there are considerable differences between the American model (the GFS) and the European (the ECMWF), and it remains to be seen whether we have a threat of strong storms or really significant rain.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Saturday, Alabama will take on Arkansas in Fayetteville (11 a.m. kickoff). The weather looks dry but cold. The sky will be mostly cloudy with temperatures holding in the low to mid 40s during the game.
Saturday evening, Auburn travels to Starkville to take on Mississippi State (kickoff at 6:30). While rain is likely during the day in east Mississippi, there is a good chance it will be over by game time. Temperatures will fall from near 55 at kickoff into the 40s by the second half.
ON THIS DATE IN 2017: Significant snow fell across a large portion of Central Alabama. Within the main corridor of snow, totals of 4 to 8 inches were common, with a few swaths of 8 to 12 inches. A few reports exceeding 12 inches were received from Clay into Cleburne counties: one 15-inch report in Delta (Clay County) and two 13-inch reports (Cleburne County). While public reports are considered unofficial, values were fairly consistent and tend to indicate this event was a top-tier ranking snowstorm for some locations in east Alabama. Birmingham officially recorded 4 inches of snow, making it the third-snowiest December on record. A few flakes were seen in far south Alabama as well; even Mobile and Baldwin counties had some snow.
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