James Spann: Alabama gets warmer Thursday, stays dry through the weekend
COLD, DRY DAY: Temperatures are generally between 38 and 45 degrees across Alabama this afternoon with a mostly sunny sky. The average high for Birmingham on Jan. 26 is 55. Tonight will be clear and cold, with a low in the mid to upper 20s.
The weather stays dry Thursday with a partly to mostly sunny sky; the high will be in the mid to upper 50s. On Friday, clouds move into the state ahead of an upper trough and cold front. Low levels will remain very dry, and rain is not expected despite the clouds. Temperatures will likely hold in the 40s over the northern counties of the state Friday, with 50s for south Alabama.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Much colder air rolls into Alabama Friday night with a clearing sky; by early Saturday morning temperatures will drop into the 18- to 24-degree range. Saturday will be sunny but cold; many north Alabama communities won’t get out of the 30s. On Sunday, after a low in the 20s, temperatures rise into the 50s by afternoon with a good supply of sunshine.
NEXT WEEK: Monday and Tuesday look dry and pleasant, with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. The latter half of the week looks unsettled with rain and possible thunderstorms moving into the state in the Wednesday/Thursday time frame. Some guidance suggests the air could become unstable by Thursday, but it’s too early to know whether severe thunderstorms will be possible. Colder air returns on 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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