I was on my daily journey over to the ABC 33/40 newsroom a few days ago and heard some folks discussion plans for our tenth anniversary later this year. I cannot believe it, but it is true. ABC 33/40 will turn 10 years old on September 1.

Much like raising children, when it comes to working in television the days are long, but the years are short.

The owners of ABC 33/40, Allbritton Communications, gave me the green light to build an aggressive weather operation in the fall of 1996. Top of the line weather equipment and a great staff. But, the big difference was the policy of going with long form weather coverage anytime one or more counties in our market goes under a tornado warning. The first time this policy was noticed was on January 27, 1997, when an F2 tornado moved across the eastern section of Tuscaloosa. One person was killed in the Woodland Hills neighborhood, and ten others were injured.

But, our big night came on April 8, 1998 when an F5 tornado moved through the western suburbs of Birmingham, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds more. ABC 33/40 was the only station on the air through the event with continuous coverage that Wednesday night. And, the following morning we were able to provide a live look at the damage from our helicopter, AirLink 33/40, which is the only TV chopper in the market. That was the night our station grew up. And, it seems like other stations in the market have been trying to do long form coverage since that night.

Later in the year we will be looking back at the various news, sports, and weather events covered by our crew during these 10 years. But, while it is nice to look back from time to time, I am always looking ahead. Our business is changing like a meteor streaking through the night, and we have lots of work to do in the new digital world. Ten years ago, there were no blogs or podcasts. Now much of our time is spent doing these digital products; I have to wonder what we will be up to 10 years from now!

The Tuesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

Usually in late March and early April we have some wild weather on the plate, but it sure looks like we won't have to deal with any major threats of severe storms, tornadoes, flooding, freezing temperatures, or snow in the next two weeks. Not bad at all...

The general pattern favors dynamic weather systems moving out of the Rockies toward the Great Lakes, with a mean ridge position over the southeast U.S., including Alabama. This should favor warmer and drier than normal weather here through mid-April.

TODAY: Not much rain this morning, as expected... the total here at Riverchase is only 0.09", and we probably have one of the heavier totals. The sun has broken out this afternoon, and our forecast highs are too low because of this. Nobody seems to be complaining.

TOMORROW/THURSDAY: Both days should be mild and mostly dry. No rain tomorrow; just an outside risk of a shower Thursday afternoon. Temperatures will rise into the 74 to 80 degree range on both days.

We note there seems to be a good chance of a significant severe weather outbreak across the nation's mid-section Thursday in the broad area from Dallas/Fort Worth to Chicago.

FRIDAY: A band of showers and storms is likely late Friday into Friday night, but with the main upper dynamics far to the north and weakening wind fields, severe weather doesn't look likely down here. Maybe a strong storm or two, but nothing too serious. Rainfall amounts of 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

THE WEEKEND: Dry and mild weather headlines our weekend forecast. Highs mostly in the 70s on Saturday and Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: Looks like we can almost take out the chance of rain early in the week. Another major storm comes out of the Rockies at mid-week, but once again this one is headed toward the Great Lakes as the ridge holds down here.

Sure enjoying seeing the kids today at the Columbiana Baptist Kindergarten and also a group of second graders at Edgewood Elementary in Homewood. As always, the KIDCAM will be on the air on ABC 33/40 News at 5:00.

SKYCAM NETWORK: Many, many requests for the SKYCAM camera/weather observation data to be placed online. That is in the works; our pals at Status Station are going to make it happen. I will post it here when the Internet data is available. Also look for new SKYCAM sites coming online in the next few weeks in places like downtown Birmingham, Inverness, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Gulf Shores, Cullman, Clanton, Demopolis, and Jasper. Stay tuned!

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

Our weekly podcast called WeatherBrains is posted for this week. In episode nine:

-Alabama's Palm Sunday tornado anniversary: Looking back 12 years later at a chilling tragedy...

-Is Alabama ready for a major spring severe weather outbreak?

-A WeatherBrains special: Max Mayfield, Director of the National Hurricane Center, talks about Katrina, the coming hurricane season and his concerns about the U.S. coastline's vulnerability to another major hurricane...

WeatherBrains is available via iTunes, RSS, or here:

http://www.weatherbrains.com/

The Tuesday morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

I also have posted the one hour Storm Alert 2006 TV special on that page if you missed it Sunday night.

Let me say up front the maps look pretty tame here for the next 15 days. For now, we don't see any major weather or flooding issues, and no more late season freezing problems. Can't promise we will be able to say that for the latter half of April, however. But for now we seem to be in pretty good shape. A mean ridge over Florida will push the big spring storm systems north of Alabama... they will run from the southern plains up to the Great Lakes region.

TODAY: A weak surface boundary will bring a little light rain or a few sprinkles to the state. Very dry air remains near the surface, so some communities won't have enough rain to measure. And, it looks like the rain has ended this morning north of a line from Millport to Huntsville, and any showers this afternoon should be mostly south of I-20. Temperatures won't climb all that much today due to the evaoprative cooling process, but we should reach the low 60s.

TOMORROW/THURSDAY: The weather looks pretty good. We soar into the 70s as the warming trend continues. Guess a few scattered showers might show up by Thursday afternoon, but no wash out.

FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT: A strong storm system moves up toward the Great Lakes, and the trailing front will bring a band of showers and stortms to Alabama. Looks like the best chance of rain will come from about 4:00 p.m. Friday through 2:00 a.m. Saturday. SPC has the northern part of Alabama in a slight risk for severe weather, but with the upper dynamics so far north and weakening wind fields, it is really hard to get excited about severe weather possibilities this far south.

THE WEEKEND: Dry and mild weather headlines our weekend forecast; highs well up in the 70s. Some spots might touch 80 on Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: The 06Z GFS has lost the wave early next week... doesn't mean it won't happen, and we will still mention a chance of showers and storms in the Monday-Tuesday time frame for now.

WEATHER BRAINS: We taped the WeatherBrains podcast last night, and I will have it posted soon. Very interesting show this week; David Black had an excellent interview with Max Mayfield, the diretor of the National Hurricane Center. He also has audio of amateur radio operator Jack Blair reporting the tornado damage at the Goshen United Methodist Church on March 27, 1994... minutes later Jack would find out his wife was killed in the church. The podcast should be available soon on iTunes and via RSS. I will post a note here when it is ready.

TODAY: I will be down in Columbiana today speaking to the pre-schoolers at First Baptist Church. I will be in the office later and the afternoon map discussion will be posted by 3:30. Also, thanks to the 2nd graders at Shades Cahaba Elementary in Homewood yesterday; they were a great audience!