I have had a chance to review all of the video elements in tonight’s Storm Alert 2005 show, which begins at 7:00 at Ashville High School. Bill Castle, our chief photographer and official Storm Alert video guy, has put together some Alabama storm stories that will be a real treat. Bill has a God-given gift of telling stories through video, and you will know that after seeing the show.
We will have video features on Hurricane Ivan, the November 24, 2004 tornado outbreak and flash flood event, and the east Alabama ice storm this past weekend.

Bill and Jason Simpson spent the weekend on top of Alabama’s highest mountain, Mt. Cheaha, where the ice was everywhere. In fact, Tammy Power, the lodge manager at Cheaha State Park reported to us yesterday extensive damage on the mountain from downed trees, and that the aftermath looks more like a tornado or hurricane had blown through. They hope to have the restaurant open again by Friday.

Another fun feature is on our own Bill Murray, who works for The Weather Company and is a forecaster for ABC 33/40. Bill went on his first great plains tornado adventure this past spring, and saw a tornado on his first outing, and seven twisters on another chase in late May. The video is really spectacular.

Our show tonight begins at 7:00, and we will have free t-shirts and other goodies. Also, we have some pretty good prize packages to give away at the end of the show. Bring the entire family, but you might want to get there early for a good seat. Ashville High School is on U.S. 231/411 about one mile south of the courthouse. Next week the tour comes to Northport; we will be at the Northport Civic Center on Tuesday February 8 at 7:00.

The afternoon video is on the server and ready for viewing:

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

Wow... it was great to see Bill Herrmann posting a comment on J.B.'s Ground Hog piece below. What a Birmingham weather legend!

Not much change in the short term forecast. Light rain or drizzle is likely at times tonight and early tomorrow. The sun finally returns on Friday, and Saturday promises to be a beautiful day with ample sunshine and afternoon temperatures in the low 60s.

THE HARD PART: Trying to resolve next week's weather is very difficult, although the models are in much better agreement for the first part of the week. Still looks like a good chance of rain or storms on Monday. We might have a dry slot over us on Tuesday, but still no cold air with the main upper trough to the west.

I still expect a sharp change to colder weather at some point in the February 10-15 time frame. How cold and exactly when it gets here remains up in the air. We are simply going on the idea that the North Atlantic Oscillation goes strongly negative as forecast then. Watch the video for the details!

We expect a jam packed house tomorrow night for the first Storm Alert 2005 stop in Ashville at the high school... and for those of you in west Alabama our Tuscaloosa/Northport show this year will be next TUESDAY night at the Northport Civic Center... All shows begin at 7:00, but we suggest you come down a little early to get a good seat!

Yes, it is Groundhog Day, 2005--a very exciting day! We understand the nation's most well-known groundhog saw his shadow in Can't' Spell It, Pennsylvania--so more winter.

There was a lot of creativity on the midnight shifts at the NWS in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. So we came up with our own groundhog names. Bill Herrmann wrote about "Alabaster Al" and made him a semi-local hero. Some of the other names that we came up with:

Selma Sara
Tuscaloosa Tammie
Carrollton Carolyn
Montevallo Martha
Moundville Mandy
Mobile Molly
Sylacauga Sally
Cullman Carol
Anniston Anne
Gadsden Gertrude
Hamilton Henry
Livingston Louise
Winfield Willie
Dothan Dan
Thomasville Tom
Auburn Arlene
Scottsboro Scottie
Florence Florene
Mentone Marlene

Sounds like we did not have enough work to do on the midnight shifts? Absolutely not. Those shifts were often as busy as a one-legged bike rider. However, on nights with no weather and when the forecast was "cut and dried" we did get a bit silly during break time.

I apologize for that years later. But we never got bored. That word was not in our dictionary.

Life goes on...

The morning video update is on the server:

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

Actually I love rainy days, so it is a lovely day for people like me. I guess if I had to work out in it all day I might have a different opinion.

Cold and wet weather today is a given... lets move on to future attractions:

*BIG YELLOW BALL: We will be bold and daring and forecast the return on sunshine on Friday. Saturday should be a beautiful day with lots of sun and temperatures in the 60s. We deserve it.

*NEXT WEEK: Forecast details for next week are as clear as mud. Model disagreement is rampant. But, through the fog we clearly see the North Atlantic Oscillation goes strongly negative in the February 10-15 time frame, which favors a long wave trough over the eastern half of the U.S., and that usually means cold air flooding the country and getting down into the deep south. So, I still think we get cold, and maybe very cold, sometime in the February 10-15 time frame. How we get there is the hard part.

Still looks wet and stormy early next week... just how stormy depends on the evolution of the upper air pattern.

Don't forget the first two stops of the Storm Alert tour are coming up; Ashville tomorrow night and Northport next Tuesday night. I saw some of the video elements put together by Bill Castle last night... they really rock. Get details of the show here:

http://beta.abc3340.com/external.hrb?p=sa2005&w=1

Hope to see you along the way!