That must have been a dandy sunset last night... too bad I missed it! These images are from Angie Howard in Empire:

From the mailbag...

You never know what to expect in the ole e-mail inbox after a severe weather event. Here is one from Friday night, while Blount County was under a tornado warning, from someone named Niki:

“I just wanted to let you know... that your weather coverage stinks. How many times do you have to say the same dang thing over and freaking over. Ya have been on TV the entire afternoon. I understand your policy or whatever you wanna call it. I think it sad and pathetic how much ya keep talking about freaking high school football. If you are so worried about this tornado then WHY must you worry about HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.... almost makes me embarassed to even live in this area where high school football take priority over a storm. While I miss Grey's anatomy you are sure to point out that you will be through for friday night freaking blitz are you serious!?!?!?!?! Get to the freaking point I MEAN HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO some people do not understand what you are saying you are talking a science people do not understand. Just tell them to get in a safe place and tell them where to go.. you do not have to explain TORNADOS in this much freaking detail. Can't you come up with another way to do this. I HATE LOCAL CABLE and I am so sick of looking at your bald weather man talk about the same thing over and over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET OFF MY TV”

But, not everyone hates us.... this note came in from a viewer named Kerry:

“I am a first grade teacher, and I have been watching you for many years now. I just wanted to thank you for the love and concern that you have for children. I listened to your words just a few minutes ago as a tornado was passing in the Cullman area. I could feel the concern in your voice as you were giving instructions to children that might be at home alone. God has truly blessed you with the wonderful gift of forecasting His amazing weather.”

Hey, gotta love e-mail. Like Forest Gump's box of chocolates... you never know what you're going to get! Our policy remains unchanged; any county that goes under a tornado warning in our DMA will put us in long form coverage. With most folks getting over 300 channels now thanks to cable and satellite, we figure the weather coverage haters can find something else to watch. Ratings continue to show a huge audience for emergency weather coverage, and we take our responsibility very seriously....

The Monday afternoon map discussion is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Notice the headline says "mostly dry" through Saturday... the one possible window for showers will come from about 12:00 noon Thursday through 9:00 Thursday night as a cold front sweeps through the state. The GFS, and QPF guidance from HPC suggests the I-20 corridor will be dry, and keeps all of the showers up north over the Tennessee Valley. It is true the air will be very dry, but the forcing will be pretty impressive so I think for now we will need to mention at least a chance of a shower Thursday afternoon, but amounts will be very light and spotty.

Between now and Thursday the weather will be beautiful; we will be close to 50 early tomorrow morning, with upper 40s for the cooler valleys. Wednesday morning should be just as cool.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Following the Thursday night front, a new surge of cool and dry air rolls into Alabama. We will struggle to reach the low 70s on Friday with a cool northwest breeze. We will be down in the 40s both Friday and Saturday morning, and I would not be shocked if some valley location in North Alabama reports a low in the upper 30s.

The 12Z GFS brings another cold front through on Sunday, and this time the model has enough moisture in place for a chance of showers and thunderstorms. I think that is a valid idea and we will introduce this in the forecast. No all-day rain, but a few showers are certainly possible. Maybe even a thunderstorm.

The first half of next week, at this point, looks dry.

LONG RANGE: The 12Z GFS continues to hint at a warm spell in the October 5-7 time frame, but then brings a doozy of an upper trough in here around October 11, which would bring perhaps a risk of strong to severe storms, and then the coolest air so far this season.

Been busy all morning cleaning out the e-mail inbox... thanks again to everyone for the great pictures and video from the severe weather event this past Friday night. We will be recording a new WeatherBrains podcast tonight and I am sure we will discuss the event; that will be ready on iTunes and the web early tomorrow morning.

I will also try to post the video of our severe weather coverage as the tornado was going through Oneonta... the warning system worked very well thanks to the partership between the media, the NWS, EMA officials, and the public. Our Skywatchers were excellent during the event, and the information was invaluable. To learn more, go here:

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

The next map discussion video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

Just a quick post to let you know that I'll be in Centre in Cherokee County tomorrow, Tuesday, September 26th, at 6:30 pm for a spotter training class. I've been invited by Cherokee County EMA Director Beverly Daniels to do the class which will be held at the Rescue Squad Building, 725 Cedar Bluff Road. That is on the north side of town along SR 9/68 near the intersection with CR 118. If you have an interest in tornadoes and what's involved in trying to spot them, this class is for you.

Hope to see you there.

-Brian-

The Monday morning map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

You can look back at pictures of the severe storms Friday, and the tornado damage on our picture category:

http://www.jamesspann.com/bmachine/cat/wxtalk/15/Pictures

All of the categories are listed on the right side blog, along with the bio information for all of us and a list of archives so you can go back and read old blog posts. I am sure the ones from one year ago were pretty interesting since West Alabama was being hit by tornadoes, thanks to Hurricane Rita's outer bands. You can see the video of the tornado we captured on our towercam on our video archive page:

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

COOLER AND DRIER: Looks like some very nice weather in the days ahead. Cooler and drier continues to roll into the state today, and we will be close to 50 degrees tomorrow morning, with some 40s in the cooler spots. We expect lots of sunshine on a daily basis through Wednesday.

BIG DEEP TROUGH: A deep long wave upper trough will move through here Thursday, and a few showers and possibly a thunderstorm could develop on the front. But, despite the impressive forcing there is very little moisture to work with, and at the moment it sure doesn't look like a big rain event.

EVEN COOLER: Another surge of cool air blows in here on Friday, perhaps the coolest air so far this season. We might have a hard time reaching 70 degrees on Friday (despite sunshine returning in full force), and by Saturday morning most places will be well down in the 40s. I would not be surprised if some of the cooler valleys reach the upper 30s for the first time this season.

WEEKEND PEEK: The weekend looks very nice; sunny days and clear chilly nights. A great weekend for football or anything else.

LONG RANGE: The GFS suggests relatively quiet weather for the first part of October, which is usually our driest month of the year. Even a little hint at some "Indian Summer" type weather in the October 5-7 time frame, perhaps a time when the 80s return. Still no sign of any tropical trouble for the Gulf of Mexico, but again we caution you the season is far from over.

Enjoy your Monday... I will have the next map discussion video posted here by 3:30 today!