James Spann: Freezing temps for Alabama tonight, then a big warm-up by Christmas Day
SEVERE CLEAR: A very dry air mass covers Alabama and the Deep South this afternoon. We have a cloudless sky with temperatures a little below average for Dec. 22, mostly between 48 and 54 degrees. Tonight will be clear and cold, with freezing temperatures likely; the low early Thursday morning will be in the 20s for most places.
WARMER DAYS AHEAD: Sunny weather continues Thursday with a big warm-up. After a subfreezing start, the high Thursday afternoon will be in the low 60s. Then, look for mid to upper 60s Friday with a partly to mostly sunny sky.
Christmas Day will be dry and warm, with a high in the low to mid 70s. The latest National Blend of Models is printing a high of 74 degrees for Birmingham Saturday. If we reach that, it will be a tie with 1987 for the third-warmest Christmas Day on record. Temperatures have reached or exceeded 70 degrees in Birmingham on Christmas 10 times since 1900:
- 2016 — 78
- 2015 — 77
- 1987 — 74
- 1982 — 73
- 1972 — 73
- 1964 — 72
- 1926 — 71
- 1922 — 71
- 1919 — 70
- 1901 — 70
Sunday will be dry as well. We are forecasting a partly to mostly sunny sky with a high in the low 70s.
NEXT WEEK: Mild weather will continue across the Deep South, thanks to an upper ridge over the northern Gulf of Mexico. New global model data suggests some rain is likely over the northern two-thirds of the state by Wednesday.
While we will see temperatures above average next week, brutally cold air will cover parts of the northern U.S. and the western half of Canada. Many places there stay below zero all week. We will keep an eye on that air mass since at some point it will have to move.
BAMA QUAKE: A magnitude 3.1 earthquake happened just after midnight last night in Chilton County. The epicenter was between Maplesville and Billingsley. It was felt across most of Chilton and some of the adjacent counties.
ON THIS DATE IN 1929: Weather records show that 5.5 inches of snow fell at the Birmingham Weather Bureau office. On Dec. 24, there was still 2.5 inches of snow on the ground at 7 p.m. However, most of the snow melted Christmas Day when the temperature climbed to 51 degrees.
ON THIS DATE IN 1989: Extremely cold air rolled into the Deep South. A dusting of snow fell across most of north Alabama, but parts of Sand Mountain had 1 inch of accumulation, with 2 inches in Crossville. Even more amazing was the snowfall that was occurring along the Gulf Coast, the Florida Peninsula and up the Georgia Coast. Snow and ice covered the ground in New Orleans. It snowed in places like Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores, Panama City Beach, Tampa and Daytona Beach. It was the most widespread snowstorm in the history of Florida. Two inches fell at Savannah and 3.9 inches in Charleston, South Carolina. As the low moved up the coast it intensified, dumping an astonishing 15 inches of snow at Wilmington, North Carolina, and 13.3 inches at Cape Hatteras.
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