From the mail bag…

"This one came in last night: I want to major in meteorology when I get out of high school. I'm a senior at Good Hope High School and I cant wait to get started on my life time goal to become a meteorologist. Did you know that meteorology is what you wanted to major in when you were in high school? What did you do to prepare yourself for this type of field?"

Great questions. My first response is this: you must have a child-like fascination with weather if you are going into meteorology. Otherwise, it will be a miserable career. But, if you really (and I do mean really) love weather, it is the best job in the world. I really didn’t consider meteorology as a career when I was in high school since there were no on-camera meteorologists at the time, and no school in Alabama offered the science. I had the passion for weather, but chose electrical engineering as my first major.

My college career was long and winding with many stops, but I would up finishing in the broadcast meteorology program over at Mississippi State, taking most of the classes while I worked in the television industry.

I think the best way for a high school student to prepare for a career in meteorology now is to get online and learn everything you can about weather. There are some excellent academic sites that offer a vast amount of knowledge. And, just about every conceivable bit of weather data is online and available for the world to see. Dig, and dig deep. Ask questions, and search out the answers. Read the blog and watch the video discussions we produce.

Of course, choosing a good college is also very important. Mississippi State is a great choice; other good ones include the University of South Alabama, Florida State, Texas A&M, Penn State, and the University of Oklahoma. GO FOR IT!

Watch live streaming coverage of the major train accident and explosion in Lincoln on our live stream...

Click on the live stream link on our main weather page:

http://www.abc3340.com/weather/

The Wednesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

Temperatures will drop quickly tonight. With a clear sky, light wind, and dewpoints in the low 20s (Birmingham's dewpoint as I write this is 23)... I think we are headed for the upper 20s by daybreak tomorrow morning. The GFS says 37 and the NAM says 38, but I think something more like 29 is best for an average low. Needless to say, the numbers will be all over the place tomorrow morning depending on location and elevation.

Look for a quick warm-up tomorrow as we soar into the 60s. Friday will stay dry and mild, but clouds will begin to show up.

WEEKEND: We will still mention the chance of showers on Saturday. A thunderstorm or two is possible, but with the lack of really unstable air, and a fairly weak upper trough passing north of us, severe weather or heavy rain is not likely. Rainfall amounts of up to 1/2 inch are a good bet.

The surface front will run out of gas and stall somewhere over central Alabama. So, temperatures on Sunday should stay above normal, and we will probably have some clouds around. I think Sunday will be dry.

Yet another round of rain and storms will roll in here Monday and Monday night of next week as another impulse moves into Alabama from the west, interacting with the stalled front.

LONG RANGE: The GFS indeed shows a big shot of very cold air moving down into the U.S. toward the end of the month. For the moment, the model has the deep, cold trough over the western half of the nation. I am not sure that is the correct position; it might be more to the east. One way or another, looks like much of the nation might be going into the deep freeze about the time February gets here.

MOSCOW COLD: The temperature in Moscow is expected to drop to 35 degrees below zero (F) in the next couple of days, their coldest temperature since 1979. Arctic Village, AK reported 38 below zero this morning. We will surely keep an eye on that cold air.

I will have the next map discussion video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

There are some major traffic problems on almost all major highways entering and leaving the Birmingham area this morning! Temperatures in the upper 20s and lower 30s have caused water on roads and bridges to begin freezing, and we will not likely see these problems clear up completely until after 7:30 to 8:00 AM this morning.

Just some reminders on how to deal with ice on the road:

*If the road looks wet, it may be icy, so drive slowly and carefully without making sudden moves
*If you go into a skid, steer into the direction of the skid
*Leave more than 2 car links between you and the vehicle ahead of you for more stopping time
*And finally, delay travel until after 7:30 this morning if at all possible

The Wednesday morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

My thermometer is showing 32 degrees as I write this, and the sky has become clear. Lots and lots of reports of light snow last night across the northern part of the state, from Birmingham on north. A number of car tops and decks got a dusting.

Sunshine returns in full force today, but a cool breeze continues. I am not going to be suckered into the MOS forecast lows for early tomorrow... in the upper 30s. If you recall we did that last week and had a bad forecast bust; I think with a clear sky and calm wind many places reach the upper 20s tomorrow morning.

We warm-up big time during the day tomorrow with mid 60s by afternoon.

NEXT RAIN: Still looks like the rain event comes at the start of the weekend. The latest GFS run in house (06Z) is a little weaker with the vort max moving from the Texas panhandle to near Indianapolis. We will mention showers on Saturday... maybe a little thunder but severe weather won't happen due to relatively stable air, and the lack of good upper air dynamics. Rainfall will probably be close to 1/2 inch for most spots.

The surface front will probably stall Saturday night as it becomes parallel to the upper air winds. If that thing stalls over us, Sunday might be mostly cloudy. I don't think it will rain Sunday, even if the front stalls out around here, but we might have to revise our ongoing forecast with warmer temperatures and more cloud cover. Then, the new GFS brings in another impulse in here early next week with more rain. I do think we will need to bring rain back into the forecast for Monday and Monday night.

LONG RANGE: Still looks like we get a wet weather system in here about every three to four days for the rest of January. The flow aloft will generally be out of the southwest, so temperatures will average above normal, with occasional shots of colder air.

AO/NAO: Hmmmm... the AO (Arctic Oscillation) is going strongly negative in the 15 day GFS outlook. That could deliver the brutally cold air now over Russia and Siberia over the pole into the northern part of North America. The big question is the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation)... it begins to trend negative about the time February begins. If both the AO and the NAO go strongly negative, you have to think February might be pretty cold around here. See the post below I wrote last night if you want to learn more about teleconnections... and be sure and watch today's video for the charts. I also have some snow pictures from last night from viewers featured...

I will have the next map discussion video on the server by 3:30 this afternoon!

Nice snow flurry in progress at 11 pm in the NE part of Trussville. Lot;s of average size flakes.

Still nothing to get excited about.

We also have reports of flurries as far south as Bibb County.