I had the pleasure of appearing on the Binnie Myles talk show Perspectives on WAGG Tuesday afternoon. She is such a neat lady. We talked weather for an hour. Callers had some great questions. There was quite a bit of interest in snow. Are we going to have any snow this winter? Why doesn’t it snow as much anymore?

Indeed, it seems that it snowed more when I was younger. You have to go back to the March Blizzard to remember a good snowstorm in Birmingham. That was a difficult storm to enjoy because of the deep snowcover, bitterly cold temperatures and extensive power outages.

Before that was the 1992 Saturday snow where I broke my leg, foot and ankle playing in the white stuff. We saw that one coming well in advance and the forecast verified beautifully. I think the final snowfall was around four inches. A good weekend storm.

I remember a great surprise April snow in 1987. I was listening to the NOAA Weather Radio before bed. The forecaster reported that temperatures would rise during the night. When I awakened at 4 a.m., it was snowing furiously. About seven inches of heavy, wet snow fell.

These were the nights that got me excited as a kid. Whenever snow might be in the forecast, I would stay up all night, calling the NWS forecast line over and over and watching the thermometer like an expectant father, hoping for temperatures to fall below freezing as rain ended. It will be an exciting weekend for snowfans all across Alabama.

It happened at 7:15 this evening 5 miles NE of Vance in Eastern Tuscakoosa County.

The 20-year old man is in stable condition at a local hospital.

UPDATE ON THE STORMS

The Severe Thunderstorm Watch no longer in effect for Jefferson and surrounding counties. Strongest storms have noved over into East Alabama.

While we are all sitting around watching storms weaken over Alabama tonight... our focus is beginning to turn to the new 00Z data rolling in...

How about that NAM spitting out 0.40" of precipitation with these conditions early Monday morning:

2M Temp: 33.6 degrees (F)
500-1000 mb thickness: 5412 meters
850-1000 mb thickness: 1304 meters
850 mb temp: -0.5 degrees (C)

Wow... that is really close. The model is also suggesting we hold in the 30s all day Monday.

The suggestion is now the best chance of "precipitation" will come from 3:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. Monday.

All of the above values are for Birmingham.

We are not forecasting snow just yet... but that sure has to be considered now. Will be fun in the weather office this weekend watching this unfold. Could this be the first snow threat for 2006? Stay tuned.

Lets not forget tomorrow will be COLD. As I write this, Hamilton is down to 40.8 degrees (at 9:08 p.m.). I think many places along and north of U.S. 278 will hold in the upper 30s all day tomorrow. Maybe some flurries after midnight and into tomorrow morning.

Back to other duties...

The NWS has received a report of wind damage in Edgewater in western Jefferson County.

Penny sized hail was recently reported in North Birmingham.

Pea sized hail was reported on Red Mountain.

At 8:00 p.m., the strongest storm was over the eastern half of the Birmingham metro area. It is capable of producing damaging winds and large hail to nickel size. Heavy rains and very vivid lightning also accompanies the storms.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning continues for Jefferson County until 8:30 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues from much of Central and South Alabama until 11 p.m. Western counties behind the line of storms have been cleared. Counties that have been cleared include Fayette, Greene, Lamar, Pickens, and Sumter.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 8:00 p.m. for Central Jefferson County.

An area of strong to severe storms extends frm near Adamsville to west of Midfield to near Bessemer at 7:49 p.m.

They will be moving across the Birmingham Metro area during the next 45 minutes.

The storms are capable of producing hail to golfball size. They are also accompanied by lots of lightning, heavy rains and gusty winds.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 11 p.ml. CST for much of Central and South Alabama.

All warnings for our viewing area have expired as 7:30 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 8 p.m. for Perry County in Central Alabama.

The activity extends from 15 miles west of downtown Birmingham to 15 miles west of Centreville to 9 miles west of Marion.

The strongest storms are west of Centreville and west of Marion.

All of the storms are capable ot producing hail. They are also producing dangerous lightning, heavy rain and gusty winds.

Be alert as the storms move through your area.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues in effect for much of Central and South Alabama until 11 p.m. CST.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings are in effect for...

Tuscaloosa and West Central Jefferson Counties until 7:15 p.m.
East Central Greene and extreme East Central Sumter County until 7:15 p.m.
Central and Southern Hale County until 7:30 p.m.

Close to home at 7:00 p.m., a line of strong to severe storms extends from 7 miles west of Oakman in Walker County to 18 miles WSW of Sylvan Springs to near downtown Tuscaloosa. This area of storms is moving ENE at 45 mph. It is producing hail up to nickel size, potentially damaging winds and lots of dangerous lightning.

This activity will move into western Jefferson County shortly and be into western sections of the Birmingham metro area about 7:30-7:45 p.m.

A very dangerous looking storm is about 13 miles west and southwest of Greensboro in Hale County. This storm looks very capable of producing very large hail. There were lots of reports of large hail from Mississiippi as these storms moved through earlier.

The Severe Thunderstorm Warning is for Tuscaloosa and West central Jefferson County.

It goes until 7:15 p.m. CST.

The warning is based on trained spotter reports of nickel sized hail along highway 171 northwest of Northport. At 6:43, the storm was located about 14 miles north of downtown Tuscaloosa. It is moving ENE at 45 mph.

The line of storms extends on an arc northward into southern Fayette County near Berry. Storng winds and large hail are possible with this system as it moves across northern Tuscaloosa County and into Western Jefferson County. Residents of extreme Southeast Fayette County and Southern Walker County should also remain alert as these storms approach.

The storms will affect western sections of the Greater Birmingham area around 7:30 p.m. and downtown around 7:45 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect for much of Central and South Alabama until 11 p.m. CST.

Don't forget you can watch our live Pinpoint Doppler radar LIVE on abc3340.com

Go to our main weather page:

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

Click on the box on the right that says "Click here to view streaming video"

Of course, when we are in "wall to wall" coverage that will be on that stream...

Line of intense thunderstorms now entering West Alabama.

Strongest storms already in Alabama were over the west part of pickens County but some storms are occurring as far east as Fayette County.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning continues for Pickens County until 6:15

Part of Sumter County under a warning until 6:45 pm

These storms have the potential to produce serious hail and damaging winds also possible.

The Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues for a huge chunk of Central and South Alabama until 11 pm.

Numerous reports of hail in Mississippi from these storms.