James Spann: Alabama colder today, dry through the weekend
James Spann has the Alabama forecast for midweek from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
SUNNY, COLDER: Temperatures are generally between 23 and 32 degrees across the northern half of Alabama early this morning with a clear sky. Look for a good supply of sunshine today with a high in the mid to upper 50s. Dry weather continues Thursday with a high in the 50s.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: An upper trough and cold front will sweep through Alabama Friday with some clouds, but the low levels will be very dry, and rain is not expected. The high Friday afternoon will be in the upper 40s and low 50s. Then, much colder air rolls into the state Friday night; we are forecasting lows early Saturday morning between 18 and 23 degrees with a clear sky. The day Saturday will be sunny and cold, with afternoon highs between 37 and 42 degrees. On Sunday, sunny weather continues with a high back in the 50s.
NEXT WEEK: Monday will be mostly sunny with a high around 60 degrees. We will mention the chance of a few showers over far west Alabama Tuesday; then rain is likely statewide Wednesday ahead of an upper trough and cold front. For now models don’t show any surface-based instability, and severe storms are not expected. Rain could linger into Thursday before drier air returns Friday.
ON THIS DATE IN 1772: Possibly the greatest snowfall ever recorded in the Washington, D.C., area started on this day. When the storm began, Thomas Jefferson was returning home from his honeymoon with his new bride, Martha Wayles Skelton. The newlyweds made it to within eight miles of Monticello before having to abandon their carriage in the deep snow. Both finished the ride on horseback in the blinding snow. The newlyweds arrived home late on the night of Jan. 26. In Jefferson’s “Garden Book,” he wrote, “the deepest snow we have ever seen. In Albermarle, it was about 3 feet deep.”
ON THIS DATE IN 1940: Alabama was in the midst of a long, severe cold wave. The morning low at the U.S. Weather Bureau in the Fountain Heights neighborhood of Birmingham was 1. A Birmingham News photo showed the giant billboard thermometer at Avenue F and 24th Street stuck at 0. The next day, Saturday, Jan. 27, skaters took to the Black Warrior River northwest of Birmingham as the ice grew to a thickness of 6 inches near the banks. Nearly every building and house in the city had icicles as long as 7 feet hanging from the eaves. The falling icicles posed a serious peril. Suffering was widespread, and there was a serious coal shortage. A total of 361 people died nationally, including three Alabamians.
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