James Spann forecasts a warming Christmas Eve for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

WARMING TREND CONTINUES THIS AFTERNOON: Temperatures are all over the board early this morning across Alabama. Just before sunrise Gadsden was below freezing at 29, but just 50 miles to the southwest Birmingham reported 48 degrees. The sky will be partly to mostly sunny today, and the warming trend resumes; this afternoon we expect a high in the mid to upper 60s. The average high for Birmingham on Dec. 24 is 55.

The sky becomes mostly cloudy late tonight; the low early Saturday morning will be in the 50s.

Christmas Day will be unseasonably mild; with a mix of sun and clouds we project a high between 70 and 74 degrees. This isn’t too far away from the record high for Dec. 25, 78, set in 2016. Temperatures have exceeded 70 degrees on Christmas Day in Birmingham 10 times since 1900.

Moisture levels will rise, and we can’t rule out a rogue afternoon shower in a couple of spots, but most communities will remain dry. On Sunday, the sky will be occasionally cloudy and a few isolated showers are possible during the afternoon and evening. The chance of any one spot getting wet is 10% Saturday and 20% Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: The weather stays mild, with highs exceeding 70 degrees Monday through Thursday; upper 60s are expected Friday. Monday looks dry, but we will bring in a chance of showers daily Tuesday through Thursday as a surface cold front tries to push into the Deep South. A few thunderstorms could be involved as there will be some surface-based instability, but at the moment the risk of severe storms looks low.FOOTBALL WEATHER: Auburn will take on Houston in the Birmingham Bowl Tuesday (11 a.m. kickoff at Protective Stadium). The sky will be mostly cloudy with a passing shower or two possible during the game. Temperatures will rise from near 68 at kickoff into the low 70s by the second half.

ON THIS DATE IN 2004: An extremely rare snowstorm hit southeastern Texas. Corpus Christi International Airport officially measured 4.4 inches. This was the second white Christmas ever recorded in Corpus Christi. The other one occurred in 1918, when 0.1 inches was reported.

ON THIS DATE IN 2015: Two brief EF-0 tornadoes touched down in Barbour County in southeast Alabama. The following day, an EF-2 tornado would touch down in Midfield and southwest  Birmingham, which affected approximately 50 homes, many of which sustained varying degrees of roof damage and 15 of which were left uninhabitable due to heavy damage. Two of these small homes were nearly flattened. Many trees were snapped or uprooted along the path as well. Two people were injured.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute show any time on your favorite podcast app. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including the meteorologists at ABC 33/40.

CONNECT: You can find me on  the major social networks:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.