We had a very nice inflow of new members into the ABC 33/40 Online Weather Watcher team over the holidays. Seemed like Santa brought some cool new weather equipment to weather lovers across Alabama, and many of those signed up to join our team. We have all of the weather watcher reports available online anytime on the ABC 33/40 web site, and I use them nightly on our 10:00 news. There is no doubt people prefer to see weather data from places where they actually live, instead of some airport or government office. The weather watcher reports are especially critical during winter storm threats and severe weather situations.

If you are interested in joining us, you will need to purchase some good weather equipment that can measure rain to the hundredth of an inch, and record daily high and low temperature observations. You can wind weather stations that can handle this anywhere from $50 to $1000; most good stations are in the $200 dollar range. It is almost impossible to find this kind equipment locally, but there are dozens of online stores that have some pretty good deals. Just do a search for “weather equipment”, and you will have many choices. Then, to sign up with us just go to the ABC 33/40 web site and fill out a simple form. We will e-mail instructions to you on how to report.

I also recommend that all of our online weather watchers go ahead and get their amateur radio license and some SKYWARN training, so they can also be a severe storm spotter. The spotters in the field use amateur radio for communication; getting a license involves taking a fairly simple multiple choice exam, and the radios are relatively inexpensive.

To learn more about ham radio, go here:

http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html

SKYWARN training sessions are given by the NWS in various locations through the year, and we do it in the fall at our Storm Alert XTREME show.

The afternoon video update is ready for viewing:

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

The weekend clipper system still looks potent, but not much moisture. A few rain showers on Saturday look likely, with some light snow or flurries late Saturday night or early Sunday. If we see snow, the best chance of the ground getting white would be in the far northeast mountains of Alabama in DeKalb and Jackson counties. Don't expect any issues down this way, at least right now based on what we are seeing.,

Busy today with getting ready for Storm Alert 2005, school weather programs, and more. Busy, busy, busy...

Very cold across the state on this Tuesday morning--especially by Alabama standards. One of the most uncomfortable spots was on one of the higher evevation in Huntsville (elevation 1601 feet) where it was 14 degrees with a wind out of the NE at 14 mph. This gave a wind chill of 11 below zero!

A roundup of lows so far gathered from a number of sources including 3340 Weather Watchers, NWS and FAA stations and from the U. S Forest Service. The NWS and FAA stations report highs and lows every six hours including 6 am, noon, 6pm, midnight, etc. On a morning like this, lows are often reached between 6 and 7 am so it will be noon before we have the final answer on some stations. Lows so far:

13 at Hytop (Jackson County)
14 in Mentone (elevation 1841 feet--Lookout Mountain)
14 in Annistion (Forest Service station at elevation of 1201 feet)
14 at Huntsville (elevation 1601 feet, wind 14 mph, wind chill -11)
15 at Mt. Cheaha and Fort Payne (elevation 1280 feet)and Black Creek
16 at Desoto State Park, Madison, Collinsville and Florence
17 in Pinson, Section (Jackson County) Hamilton, Decatur, Huntsville Airport
18 at Fort Payne Airport, Meridianville, Trussville (elevation 935 feet) and in Moulton (Lawrence County)
19 at Cullman Airport and Birmingham Airport
20 in Muscle Shoals
21 in Jasper and Anniston
22 at Tuscaloosa Airport and Oakmulgee (Bibb County)
23 at Calera and Selma
24 at Montgomery
28 in Mobile and Grand Bay

The 3340 Weather watcher for Black Creek, in NE Etowah County, reported that the wind died down around 4:30 am and the temperature dropped 4 more degrees. The final low was 15 (14.7) but there was "not a speck of frost." This is because the air is exceedingly dry. The dew point is between zero and 10 above across North Alabama this morning!

SHALL WE CALL THIS A WARMUP?
Yesterday morning it was 54 below at Embarrass, Minnesoto--six degrees above the coldest ever in the entire state. This morning, that part of NE Minnesota is "warmer" with temperatures of 20 below in Hibbing and 24 below in International Falls. However, strong south winds have set in gusting as high as 40 mph in some areas. I guarantee you that will freeze you right away. Other selected lows this morning from Alaska:

54 below zero in Fort Yukon
52 below in Northway
56 below in Eagle
...and finally, 54 below at Mayo, in the Yukon Territory of NW Canada

Stay warm!

The Tuesday morning video is on the server:

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

A northeast wind continued all night, which kept temperatures from dropping into the teens in many places. At this moment, the coldest place around the state is Huntsville with 18. A northeast wind of 8 mph, making the wind chill 8 degrees. Birmingham is sitting at 20 with a wind chill index of 13. J.B. Elliott will round up all the morning lows and post them here in a bit.

The weekend forecast is a bit complex thanks to an Alberta Clipper rolling down into the U.S. The system looks pretty vigorous, but moisture will be backing. We will mention the chance of some light rain Saturday, and maybe a few flurries late Saturday night and early Sunday, but nothing beyond that. The amount of cold air following the system is also in question. The GFS says no cold air, but the forecast package I wrote this morning shows a sharp change to colder temperatures on Sunday and Monday. The solution might be somewhere in between. Just remember the GFS was over 10 degrees too warm on this current airmass five days ago.

Having said that, it does look like the air involved with the clipper is more of Pacific origin, so I might bump my numbers up a little on the afternoon update later today It will be interesting to see the 12Z guidance roll in later this morning.