Did you hear it?

Yesterday’s simulated tornado warning for all 67 Alabama counties was issued at exactly 9:15 a.m. If you didn’t hear the warning, then you more than likely are not able to hear real warnings when needed. As have shared many times here over the years, the simple fact is that every Alabama home and business needs a NOAA Weather Radio receiver with the alarm feature, and we won’t have this problem. Your FIRST way of getting a tornado warning should not be outdoor warning sirens since they are not designed to reach people indoors, and us TV weather people since the television is turned off at times, and people often watch cable or satellite channels that do not provide local warnings. Sure, we want you tuned in to our long form tornado coverage, but you have to know something is going on.

One great way of getting ready for the tornado season is to visit our Storm Alert 2005 show. Tonight, we will be in Cullman county at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville at 7:00. We will share some incredible Alabama storm stories, and also provide some very helpful information your family can use during times of severe weather. And, we also give away some pretty cool stuff. While we do begin the show at 7:00, we suggest you be there by 6:15 or so to get a seat. No tickets are required, and there is no admission; you just show up. Hanceville is only about 8 miles south of Cullman, and enter the Wallace State campus off U.S. 31 and follow the signs to the auditorium. After tonight; we only have two more stops on the tour. We will be in Oxford next Thursday, February 24 at the Oxford Civic Center, and the final show will come on Wednesday March 2 at Mountaintop Community Church in Vestavia. Hope to see you along the way!

The Wedneday afternoon video is on the server:

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

This is a quick stop between a program this morning at Saks Middle School in the Anniston area, and our live 5:00 and 6:00 weathercasts from Severe Weather Awareness Day at McFarland Mall in Tuscaloosa. Burning up that I-20 today...

Highlights:

*Dry and cool tomorrow and Friday; a light freeze early Friday morning.

*We have dropped the mention of rain for Saturday based on the trend toward holding the rain back in model output until the latter half of the weekend.

*Still looks pretty wet Sunday and Monday, and possibly into Tuesday of next week as a surface front stalls out just north of us. I expect to see some pretty generous amounts of rain during those three days; possibly over two inches in spots. We will have to watch for any flash flooding issues.

*The GFS is really advertising a nice cold snap at the end of the month... and has been rather consistent in that. The 12Z run today shows a big cross-polar flow, and if that is correct it might get really cold here at the end of February and the first of March. Will be interesting to see if this trend continues toward a big phased trough over the eastern U.S.

*The statewide tornado warning was issued this morning at 9:15 a.m.

*Storm Alert 2005 continues tomorrow night in Hanceville at Wallace State at 7:00... get there early to get a good seat!

*AND... I see several people posting nasty little comments on the blog who don't leave a return e-mail address. Pretty gutless, huh? I love to respond to all of the charges and comments, but I learned long ago not to take the time to read anonymous negative notes. Not enough time in my day for that... We live in a world of negative people and I don't want any of that rubbing off on me. Constructive criticism is one thing, but if you want me to look at it I need a real name and reply address.

The Wednesday morning video update is on the server:

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

What a day today... this is the day for the annual statewide tornado drill (see the post below this one). I will be speaking over in the Anniston area at Saks Middle School, and then will be zipping back across the state to do the weather live at 5:00 and 6:00 from Tuscaloosa's Severe Weather Awareness Day at McFarland Mall. Jason Simpson and Brian Peters will be at that event pretty much all day, so drop by if you have a few minutes and say hello.

Coming attractions:

*Today's rain will probably be limited to the northeast counties of the state, and even there amounts will be very light. Just not much moisture to work with today as the cold front passes through. Temperatures could very peak during the late morning, and might back off a few degrees this afternoon as the colder air moves in.

*The latest runs of the GFS have been in good agreement about keeping Saturday dry, so we will begin to move in that direction as well. We will probably eliminate the chance of rain on Saturday on our afternoon update. The wettest days should be Sunday and Monday with periods of rain and a few thunderstorms. We should see some pretty good rain amounts on those two days.

*Out in the long range there is decent agreement about a cold snap in late February or early March. Probably nothing extremely cold, but we still have a long way to go this winter.

Headed out shortly for my all day marathon. Should be a very fun day...