James Spann: Freeze Warning tonight for most of Alabama
CLEAR, COOL, WINDY AFTERNOON: We have a cloudless sky over Alabama this afternoon, but temperatures are about 20 degrees below average for the first day of April; most communities are in the low to mid 50s with a brisk north wind. The wind will die down tonight, and a freeze is likely all the way down into Alabama Friday morning.
A Freeze Warning is in effect for Alabama as far south as Washington, Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Pike and Barbour counties. Lows will be between 22 and 30 degrees over the northern half the state, with low 30s down to U.S. 84. Some frost is possible as far south as I-10.
FRIDAY THROUGH EASTER: Friday will be sunny with a high between 57 and 61 degrees. Friday night will be clear and cold with potential for another freeze over a decent part of north and central Alabama. We project lows early Saturday morning between 27 and 34 degrees. The sky will stay sunny over the weekend. Saturday’s high will be in the upper 60s, followed by low 70s Sunday.
NEXT WEEK: The warming trend continues; afternoon temperatures will be close to 80 degrees by Wednesday. For now it looks like the week will remain mostly dry, although a few showers could show up by Thursday or Friday. There’s no sign of any heavy rain event or severe weather threat for the next seven days.
RAIN UPDATE: Here are rain totals for the year so far, and the departure from average:
- Huntsville — 19.09 inches (4.15 inches above average)
- Muscle Shoals — 19.03 (5 inches above average)
- Dothan — 17.25 (1.97 inches above average)
- Tuscaloosa — 16.59 (1.38 inches above average)
- Birmingham — 16.36 (1.76 inches above average)
- Montgomery — 14.05 (1.93 inches below average)
- Mobile — 11.06 (5.85 inches below average)
- Anniston — 8.87 (5.69 inches below average)
ON THIS DATE IN 1960: The first weather satellite, TIROS 1 (Television and Infra-Red Observation Satellite), began sending pictures back to Earth. The TIROS series would have little benefit to operational weather forecasters because the image quality was low and inconsistent. The most critical understanding achieved from the new technology was the discovery of the high degree of organization of large-scale weather systems, a fact never apparent from ground and aircraft observations.
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