I will pretty much guarantee that spring fever will be breaking out all over Alabama today. After some morning fog, we should see a good deal of sunshine today with temperatures soaring into the mid 70s. Makes you want to put away the winter clothes and get ready for spring. I am mainly writing this to caution you that winter still has a long way to go. In fact, in the short term, we will be in the 20s by Friday morning, almost 50 degrees cooler than what we expect to see this afternoon. The ole thermometer roller coaster ride is very normal for late February in Alabama.

Will we break a record today? I would say it is very unlikely; Birmingham’s record high for February 15 is 80 degrees set in 1989. Birmingham’s warmest February temperature on record is 83, measured on February 23, 1996. It is interesting to note that the record warmth in February 1996 followed bitter cold, snow, and ice earlier in the month. Birmingham had dropped to 4 degrees above zero on February 4, 1996!

Looking at the month of March, we have seen temperatures here as cold as 2 degrees! That was measured in Birmingham on the Sunday morning following the Blizzard of 1993 when we had over one foot of snow on the ground. Prior to the blizzard event, the coldest March morning was on March 3, 1980 when we dropped to 11 degrees.

And, I also need to remind you some pretty good snow events have taken place here during the first week of April! On April 3, 1987, five inches fell at Birmingham in an event that was not forecast very well. I don’t think anyone has the guts to forecast that kind of snow in April. But, the bottom line here is that we still have a long way to go this winter.

The Monday afternoon video update is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Nice to see the sun this afternoon, and we are still on target to rise into the mid 70s tomorrow. We have to reach 80 for record territory; which is unlikely. But, spring fever will be breaking out everywhere.

Am beginning to be a little concerned about the possibility of flooding in the Saturday through Wednesday time frame (February 19-23). It will not rain all the time on all five days, but we could wind up with some very impressive rain totals before it all ends.

See the video for details... have to run to the other side of the building for a meeting...

The Monday morning video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

By the way... Bill Murray has a litte typo in his article below this one... the new NCEP computers will take them from 450 billion calculations per second to 1.3 trillion calculations per second. He just missed the "t" in trillion! That blows my little pea picking mind.

Coming attactions:

*After a few lingering showers this morning, there is a good chance the sun returns later today as temperatures soar into the 60s. If the sun comes out early enough we might even reach the 70s.

*We DO go into the 70s tomorrow. I have 71 in the forecast package, but I think J.B. will be pushing that number into the mid 70s on his afternoon update later today. Have to wonder if some records might be in danger. I fully expect some major spring fever cases tomorrow. Should be the warmest day so far in 2005.

*A little rain arrives on Wednesday with the next cold front, and that will bring us back to reality for the rest of the week. We will struggle to reach 50 degrees on Thursday and Friday, and we should drop into the 20s Friday morning. Your typical temperature roller coaster in late February.

*The weekend ahead looks wet. Trying to tell you exactly when it will rain and how much rain will fall is hard to do in this kind of pattern. We mention periods of rain both Saturday and Sunday, and maybe some thunderstorms on Sunday.

*No cold air really showing up for the latter half of February at this point. But, winter is far from over.

Watch the video for all the juicy details.