Buffalo is a city that knows snow, and knows how to handle it when it falls in great quantities. During the autumn and early winter season, when the wind is from the right direction and the normally placid waters of Lake Erie are not yet frozen, the lake can rise up in a hurricane of snow, burying the city. Located at the far northeast end of Lake Erie, a cold southwest wind over warm lake waters is the recipe for snowfalls of prodigious proportions.

Buffalo had gone through the entire month of November 2001 without any snow, the very first time in history that had occurred. But the city would make up for lost time in a hurry on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A large low pressure system over Lake Superior set up the requisite southwest wind on the 24th, and bands of heavy lake effect snow were the result. Early on Christmas Eve, the bands targeted northern suburbs of the city, but shifted south and then back north through Christmas Day, hosing the city with 25.2 inches of snow fell in just 24 hours. This was good enough to rank the Yuletide storm in third place on the rankings of 24 hour snowfalls for the city.

The new record would fall again just two days later when 29.6 inches of snow fell between 7pm on the 26th and 7pm on the 27th. 82.3 inches of snow would fall during a five day period, almost as much as the city normally receives in an entire winter season.

The fact that the snow occurred during a holiday week made it more enjoyable than it would had it occurred in a week when schools were open and many people were off.

The warmer than normal weather would return the first week of January. Buffalo had compressed an entire winter into a single week!

A big warmup for wide areas of the USA today.

So, much so, look at this stat:

At 4 o'clock this afternoon only 1/2 of one percent of the land area in the Lower 48 States had temperatures freezing or lower.

Not too long ago that percentage was around 67.

At 4pm, the lowest in the country was 25 at Frenchville, Maine and the warmest was 82 at Wink, Texas.

Late this afternoon, 65 degree warmth had reached as far north as Western Kansas and Extreme SE Colorado.

I feel sure they are dancing in the streets!

The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

See J.B.'s post below for lows this morning... had several places in the mid teens as the GFS MOS was trying to forecast a low of 30! I know I probably bash the MOS products too much here, but I am just trying to remind young forecasters MOS products in winter time stink a large percentage of the time. Toss em out and use your common sense.

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND SYSTEM: If this were March, I would be greatly concerned about severe weather tomorrow evening. But, this is December and the air should be too stable for any serious threat of severe storms. I do think we hear thunder thanks to a very cold core upper trough. Rainfall amounts to one-half inch are likely, and some spots might get up to one inch of rain. Looks like the best chance of rain and thunderstorms will come from about 12 noon through 12 midnight tomorrow.

Christmas day will be chilly with temperatures holding in the 40s all day with clouds. A little light drizzle is possible Sunday morning. And, you can't ignore those cold temperatures aloft which bring thickness values way down. But, with surface temperatures in the 40s you have to figure most of the snow flakes will melt on the way down if they do form. Best chance of seeing a snow flake Sunday will be on Lookout Mountain in northeast Alabama above 1,000 feet.

NEXT WEEK: A very similar system will move through here Wednesday of next week. Plenty of upper support, but the air will probably be too stable for a big severe weather threat. And, the air will probably be too warm for snow flakes to reach the ground as the upper trough swings through.

Thanks to those of you who listened to us on WZZK-FM this morning... that was a very special show I enjoyed much. We all are guilty of not understandind how blessed we really are. Thanks to Matthew Seals and Beth Beck for coming on the air with me and sharing their stories. Both of their families will sure be in my prayers. You can access Madison Beck's web site here.

Have a very merry and meaningful Christmas. I will be back in the saddle Monday January 2, 2006... Brian Peters, J.B. Elliott, Jason Simpson, Bill Murray and John Oldshue will be handling the web, radio, and TV duties while I am away. God bless all of you.

According to AAA, bunches of people will be traveling today. We look at some expected weather today and Christmas Eve at selected cities.

We will list today's weather and high temperature, tomorrow's weather and low/high.

Albuquerque, partly sunny 60...sunny 34/36
Amarillo, Tex., partly sunny 70...partly sunny 36/59
Asheville, N.C., sunny 58...mostly cloudy 25/57
Atlanta, sunny 57...partly sunny, rain late 36/56
Boston, mostly cloudy 47...partly sunny 36/47
Charlotte, sunny 58...partly sunny 28/59
Chicago, partly sunny 42...rain 34/37
Cincinnati, partly sunny 51...rain 38/46
Dallas-Ft. Worth, sunny 70...partly sunny 47/68
Daytona, sunny 66...partly sunny 42/69
Denver, partly sunny 57...sunny 27/54
Houston, foggy 53...rain 37/51
Kansas City, partly sunny 58...rain or snow 37/41
Las Vegas, partly sunny 69...sunny 42/66
Little Rock, sunny 60...mostly cloudy 44/57
Las Angeles, partly sunny 73...sunny 55/83
Memphis, sunny 59...showers 48/57
Miami, sunny 74...partly sunny 58/76
Minneapolis, partly sunny 41...mostly cloudy 30/35
Nashville, partly sunny 55...showers 43/53
New Orleans, sunny 65...mostly cloudy 51/68
New York City, partly sunny 48...partly sunny 39/51
Orlando, sunny 67...partly sunny 44/71
Phoenix, sunny 78...sunny 52/80
Pittsburgh, partly sunny 45...mostly cloudy 33/47
St. Louis, partly sunny 60...a cold rain 41/44
Salt Lake, partly sunny 51...sunny 28/48
San Antonio, sunny 74...sunny 52/74
Seattle, lots of rain 54...rain continues 49/58
Washington, D.C., sunny 51...partly sunny 36/54

Probably will not do this tomorrow morning because this should be our last REAL cold morning for awhile. Here is the long list for this moring. Sure hope this is not boring to readers but a lot of folks like to know how cold it was in their individual community.

ALABAMA
14 in Crudup (small community in a deep valley north of Gadsden)
15 at Rock Mills, Gaylesville, Rainbow City and Black Creek
16 in Wedowee, Dearmanville, Gadsden
17 in Hamilton, Talladega, Heflin
18 in Fort Payne and in DeSoto State Park
19 in Pinson, Jasper, Wadley, Albertville, Hartselle
20 in Anniston, Montgomery, Alexander City, Centreville, Fayette, Weaver, Alabaster
21 in Helena (Nathan Jones 3340 weather watcher)
21 in Helena (Brian Peters report)
21 in Troy, Livingston, Ashville, Childersburg, Horseshoe Bend, Oxford
22 in Clanton and Tuskegee
23 in Evergreen, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Meridianville, Moulton, Guntersville, Northport
24 in Decatur, Muscle Shoals, Inverness, Roebuck, Prattville, Athens and at Shelby County Airport
25 in Reform, Auburn and at Birmingham Airport
26 in Dothan, Selma, Cordova
27 at Cullman Airport
28 at Mobile, Fairhope, Eutaw
29 in Grand Bay
30 at Brindley Mountain, elevation 1070 feet and 11 degrees warmer than Hartselle not far away
31 in Clay, elevation 1032 feet, 12 degrees warmer than Pinson, another temperature inversion

REGIONAL
10 in Mountain City, Tenn.
16 in Iuka, Miss.
19 in Houston, Miss.
20 at Water Valley and Aberdeen, Miss.
20 atop Mt. Leconte, Smoky Mountains with 10 inches of snow
14 in Gatlinburg, 4800 feet lower elevation than Mt. Leconte
9 at Jefferson and Spruce Pine, N.C., 23 degrees colder than Grandfather Mountain
32 on Grandfather Mountain, N.C.

NATIONAL
31 in Boston, 15 degrees warmer than Gadsden
37 in Chicago, finally a nice warmup
22 in Charlotte
40 in Great Falls and Helena, Mont., 20 degrees warmer than Anniston
zero at Gunnison, Colo., coldest in the Lower 48.

ADDED NOTES FROM 3340 WEATHER WATCHERS
Mike Calloway reports an average low this December in Weaver of 28.1
Todd Foisy, Billings, Mont., reports high of 54 Thursday, warmer than most of Alabama
In the 3340 blog comment section, Margie Richardson reports a low of 15 in or near Rainbow City with a roaring fire in the fireplace and loads of hot chocolate...

Be sure and scan down to see and hear the morning video update by Brian Peters and the main weather stories of 2005 by James Spann.

The Friday morning map discussion video is on the server at:

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

Temperatures once again dipped into the lower and mid 20s with a few readings in the upper teens. Full details are in JB Elliott's post below.

Warm air advection should kick in today as the high pressure center shifts eastward from Alabama. Look for lots of sunshine today with highs reaching the mid and upper 50s. But clouds begin their return tonight ahead of the next weather system that is expected to bring rain and showers to the area Saturday and Saturday night. Looks like the best chances for rain will come from Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening.

Clouds will linger into Christmas morning with it turning colder as temperatures struggle to reach the upper 40s. With the cold air arriving the mositure will be decreasing but you can't eliminate the possibility of a flurry or two especially north and east from Birmingham. But dreams for a white Christmas will have to be postponed to next year I'm afraid.

After a chilly Christmas day, temperatures will recover with dry conditions on Monday and Tuesday. The next cold front is forecast to enter the picture on Wednesday bringing another shot of rain with it. The string of fronts is forecast to continue with another one expected in the Saturday/Sunday time frame just as the new year begins. GFS which was forecasting some wet weather around the fourth of January is now dry.

James will be back with the afternoon video - his last one before a week of vacation. And I'll be back over the weekend. Have a great weekend, and Merry Christmas.

-Brian-

Those inversions are really, really big sometimes. But they actually happen.

Got an email from Bill McMillan in Mountain City, Tenn., this morning. He operates the Mountain City Weather Center web page and has avid interest in weather. Mountain City is the highest elevation town or city in Tennessee and it is in the extreme NE part of Tennessee.

Just before 7 this morning (CST) it was 10 above zero in Mountain City. At the same time, and just 20 minutes to the south. it was 41 in Boone, N.C. That is a 31 degree contrast!

Boone is about 800 feet higher in elevation.

And thanks to good friend (and another weather fan) Chuck Biddinger in Robuck. He keeps in close touch with weather in the North Carolina-Tennessee Mountains.

Chuck reports that it was 36 in Beech Mountain around 8 this morning (EST) while it was 13 in Banner Elk. They are less than two miles apart!

That is a 23 degree difference in less than two miles.

If you drove quickly from one to the other, would that crack your windshield?

Beech Mountain is at an elevation of 5028 feet and Banner Elk at 3700 feet.

I am going to write a special story about temperature inversions soon...

Overall, not quite as cold as Thursday morning, but close in some areas.

Also, see the note at the end of this report about another temperature inversion which is even more pronounced than yesterday morning. Here are some 5 am temperatures:

18 in Fort Payne and Gadsden
21 in Alexander City
22 at Anniston Airport
23 in Montgomery and Troy
24 in Huntsville, Decatur, Tuscaloosa, Evergreen
25 at Dothan and at the Shelby County Airport (Birmingham NWS Office)
26 at Birmingham Airport and Dothan
28 in Cullman
29 in Fairhope
30 in Mobile
33 in Bon Secour
34 in Mentone, atop Lookout Mountain
35 atop Mt. Cheaha, Alabama highest point, elevation 2407 feet

A MARKED TEMPERATURE INVERSION
Anniston Airport and Mt. Cheaha are not very far apart in East Alabama. Yet, it was 13 degrees warmer atop the mountain at 5 am than it was at Anniston Airport.

Gadsden, with 18 degrees at 5, was 17 degrees colder than atop Mt. Cheaha.

Nice inversion in Extreme NE Alabama also:
18 at Fort Payne Airport
34 at Mentone up on Lookout Mountain, a difference of 16 degrees.

These inversions can play whackydoo with weather forecasts.

We should get a bonus inour pay when wrestling with inversions and wedges...

But life goes on, inversion or not...