James Spann: Wet weather returns to Alabama before the weekend is over

Published On: 12.14.17 |

By: James Spann

James Spann: Wet weather returns to Alabama before the weekend is over

James Spann: Cool days, chilly nights continue for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

DRY AIR HOLDS THROUGH SATURDAY: Temperatures are mostly in the low and mid 30s across north and central Alabama early this morning, although colder spots across the northeast counties are in the 20s. Today will be another dry day with a high between 54 and 58 degrees this afternoon, right at seasonal averages for mid-December. Expect a decent amount of sun through scattered clouds.

Another clipper will bring down a chunk of colder air into the state tomorrow; the day will be partly sunny with a high generally in the upper 40s.

THE WEEKEND: Saturday morning will be cold. Most communities begin the day in the mid 20s; then, with a good supply of sunshine, we warm into the mid 50s by afternoon. Clouds move in Saturday night, and rain should begin at some point during the day Sunday as a wave approaches from the west. Rain is most likely Sunday afternoon into Sunday night; the high will be in the upper 50s. Some thunder is possible, but we don’t expect severe storms.

NEXT WEEK: Again this morning we have considerable “model madness”; the Global Forecast System suggests rain will continue at times Monday and Tuesday with highs in the 50s, but the European global model shows a drier and cooler solution. We will go with a compromise and keep a chance of rain going Monday, followed by a dry day Tuesday. If the GFS by chance is correct, we could see rain amounts approaching 2 inches by Tuesday. The latter half of the week, for now, looks dry.

CHRISTMAS: It’s still too early for a specific forecast, but confidence is increasing that the best chance of cold, snowy weather will be northwest of Alabama; seems like our weather could be wet with a high in the 50s. We will have the first reliable look at the situation this weekend.