COLORADO SPRINGS
Winds will increase to over 50 mph after midnight when snow will become heavy with blowing and drifting snow. Tomorrow morning, north winds may gust as high as 65 mph, blizzard conditions, with significant drifting snow. About 1/2 foot of snow will accumulate on the average but with big drifts.

DENVER
They will get hit hard by this major winter storm also. Snow accumulations 5 to 12 inches forecast with the heaviest accumulations near the foothills and south of I-70.

DALHART/TEXAS PANHANDLE
High winds will be howling over a wide area as this intense storm swing out on the open plains. At Dalhart, in the NW Texas Panhandle. howling winds will be gusting to 60 mph Thursday and Thursday night.

This interesting note tonight from Larry Mason, one of our regular readers from the Birmingham area. He is on vacation at Beech Mountain, North Carolina:
-----------------------------
10:25 pm....winds have inceased the last hour...noticed Grandfather Mountain accross the valley had a gust to 79 mph...sustained winds here must be in the 35 to 40 mph range...been snowing for a few hours....dusting on the ground.....19 degrees now..hurts to go outside and look...HAVING FUN...

Larry Mason from Beech Mtn. NC

As we've been mentioning the last several days, some of the coldest air so far this Fall season is expected over night Monday night and Tuesday morning, so the National Weather Service has posted a Freeze Watch for that period. The text of their issuance is shown below. Stay warm!!

-Brian-


URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
742 PM CDT SUN OCT 22 2006

...FREEZING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA
FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...

.THE COMBINATION OF CLEAR SKIES AND COLD NORTHERLY WINDS...WILL
ALLOW FOR MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA TO DROP BELOW FREEZING FOR
APPROXIMATELY THREE HOURS EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.

ALZ011>015-017>021-026>029-037-038-231000-
/O.NEW.KBMX.FZ.A.0004.061024T0800Z-061024T1300Z/
MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WINSTON-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-
CHEROKEE-CLEBURNE-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGA-CLAY-RANDOLPH-TALLAPOOSA-
CHAMBERS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HAMILTON...SULLIGENT...VERNON...
FAYETTE...DOUBLE SPRINGS...JASPER...ONEONTA...GADSDEN...
ANNISTON...CENTRE...HEFLIN...PELL CITY...MOODY...TALLADEGA...
SYLACAUGA...ASHLAND...ROANOKE...ALEXANDER CITY...DADEVILLE...
VALLEY...LANETT...LAFAYETTE
742 PM CDT SUN OCT 22 2006

...FREEZE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A FREEZE
WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
MORNING.

A LARGE AREA OF COLD CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE ACROSS THE
SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES THROUGH TUESDAY. THIS WILL BRING THE
COLDEST WEATHER SO FAR THIS FALL SEASON TO PORTIONS OF NORTH
CENTRAL ALABAMA INCLUDING AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF A VERNON...TO
JASPER...TO ONEONTA...TO TALLADEGA...TO ROCKFORD...TO LAFAYETTE
LINE. THIS WILL INCLUDE THE NORMALLY COLDER PROTECTED VALLEY
LOCATIONS OF NORTH AND EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA...BUT GENERALLY WILL
NOT AFFECT THE LARGER CITIES.

TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S FOR APPROXIMATELY
THREE HOURS TUESDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION TO BELLOW FREEZING
TEMPERATURES...WIDESPREAD FROST IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN MANY AREAS
TUESDAY MORNING...EVEN IN SOME LOCATIONS THAT DO NOT DROP BELOW 32
DEGREES.

A FREEZE WATCH MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE.
THESE CONDITIONS COULD KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION.
THOSE WITH AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD MAKE
PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT VEGETATION AND YOUNG TREES. PREPARATIONS
SHOULD BE MADE TO BRING HOUSE PLANTS INDOORS. TO PREVENT OUTSIDE
WATER PIPES FROM FREEZING PLEASE DRAIN GARDEN HOSES AND TURN OFF
OUTSIDE HOSE BIBS. IN ADDITION...PLEASE MAKE SURE OUTSIDE PETS
HAVE A PROTECTED PLACE TO STAY WARM.

$$

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
500AM EDT FRI OCT 13 2006

..SNOWIEST DAYS ON RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER

THE UNPRECEDENTED LAKE EFFECT SNOW STORM THAT CONTINUED ACROSS THE
NIAGARA FRONTIER THROUGH THE WEE MORNING HOURS PRODUCED SOME
IMPRESSIVE SNOWFALL TOTALS.

RECORDS HAVE BEEN SET ON TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS FOR SNOWFALL AT
BUFFALO.

ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, THE BUFFALO AIRPORT RECORDED 8.3 INCHES OF
SNOW, BREAKING THE ALL TIME RECORD FOR DAILY SNOWFALL IN OCTOBER,
WHICH WAS 6 INCHES LAST SET ON OCTOBER 31, 1917.

THURSDAY'S RECORD DID NOT LAST LONG HOWEVER. THROUGH 5AM FOR FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 13, BUFFALO RECORDED 10.9 INCHES OF SNOW, SETTING A NEW MARK
FOR THE SNOWIEST DAY IN OCTOBER SINCE RECORDS BEGAN BACK IN 1870.

THE CULPRIT FOR THIS RECORD SNOW IS THE EARLIEST LAKE EFFECT SNOW
STORM ON RECORD TO HIT THE CITY OF BUFFALO.
-----------------------------
A Few Extra Notes:

* Official weather records for Buffalo go way back to 1870--136 years!

* The pressure in the center of this intense low pressure area was as low as 28.80 inches, lower than in some tropical storms.

* Gusts over 50 and 13 to 17 foot waves on Lake Superior.

* Could be that some Buffalo residents think global cooling is underway.

That is what the NWS in Michigan is saying about the current bitter winterlike weather. Consider this:

* A low pressure area so intense that the central pressure was 28.80 inches. Repeat: 28.80 inches. Some tropical storms do not have pressure that low. The large and intense low was spinning over Ontario and will not move much through Sunday night..

* Westerly gales as high as 52 mph creating 13 to 17 foot waves on Lake Superior.

* 8 to 12 inches of snow has accumulated in Cheboygan County in Upper Michigan.

* An additional 8 to 12 inches may accumulate through Friday over parts of upper Michigan in extremely heavy snow showers. Visibility may drop to near zero very quickly in those snow showers creating whiteout conditions. Travel was highly discouraged.

* Power outages in some areas including Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. This is because the heavy wet snow came so early that leaves were still on trees. Breaking tree limbs brought down power lines.

Coldest temperature Thursday was 12 degrees at Oglala, South Dakota.

Many communities received measurable snow Thursday that was the earliest in history. Chicago included.

Colder air is beginning to mobilize in Canada that will bring the first snow of the season to the USA Northern Rockies and part of the Central Rockies.

* The first snow is expected in the mountains of North Utah by late Friday night.

* Inside Yellowstone National Park, occasional snow showers will develop Friday night and will continue through most of the weekend. Low temperatures will be around 25 and highs near 35.This is going to be a moisture-laden Northern Rocky Mountain storm so you can bet some of the highest elevations will get a good covering.

THUNDERSNOW
* In the Colorado Mountains, snow showers late Saturday and Saturday night will also feature some thunderstorms. (Translation: Thundersnow This includes such popular places as Aspen, Vail and Leadville.

I will never forget sliding off an ice covered street into a small ravine in Leadville one night because I was too stubborn to buy chains. They had trippled the price because of an oncoming storm.

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

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Be sure and scroll down to read Bill Murray's story about the commuter jet crash in Ensley on this date in 1991... very interesting; I might share some thoughts about that event later today or tonight here on the blog.

THE ALABAMA WEATHER STORY: This is the time of year when weather changes are very slow in coming across the Deep South. The main day to day difference involves the frequency and placement of afternoon showers and storms. Model data today suggests precipitatable water values at Birmingham to be around 1.80" to 1.90", and 500 mb temps around -7 degrees (C) this afternoon. This should support afternoon showers or storms, but the rain won't fall everywhere. Hopefully you can catch a good shower today, because they should thin out for the rest of the week as warmer air aloft makes for a more stable atmosphere.

And, as the showers and storms thin out, heat levels will be rising. We should be in the mid 90s during the latter half of the week, and with higher dewpoints the heat won't exactly be comfortable. We will continue to mention the chance of a passing afternoon storm late this week, but they should be very widely scattered.

The upper ridge begins to shift to the west of Alabama late in the coming weekend and early next week, and that should mean a slow increase in the number of afternoon showers and storms.

TROPICAL WEATHER: We are watching the interesting wave about halfway between the Windward Islands and the coast of Africa... the wave is moving to the west with no signs of any development at this point. That seems to be the first real African wave of the season with some potential for survival. The system east of the Bahamas is a circulation aloft, and a surface based low is not expected.

LONG RANGE: Nothing really stands out on the 00Z GFS... the weather looks pretty typical here for the rest of July. Hot and humid, at least a chance of an afternoon storm on a daily basis.

I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon....

Below freezing at several locations in Alabama on this Thursday morning. Here is a selected short list:

27 at Black Creek with light to moderate frost (NE Etowah County)
29 in Crossville and Mentone
30 in Vinemont (Cullman Airport)
31 in Pinson
32 in Collinsville and Cottondale
33 in Hayden and at Huntsville Airport
34 at Birmingham Airport
35 at Anniston Airport
36 in Vestavia (Birmingham Area) and Albertville
37 at Tuscaloosa Airport
39 at Shelby County Airport

SNOW FLURRY REPORT: We received a report at 8:02 am from Josh Reidinger of some snow flurries atop Shades Mountain in Vestavia

A list of low temperatures on this Wednesday Morning:

ALABAMA
25 in Black Creek with a heavy frost (NE Etowah County)
27 at Little River Canyon and in Cottondale (frost)
28 in Pinson, Fort Payne, Desoto State Park
29 in Crossville, Florence, Talladega, Munford (light frost in Munford)
30 in Cullman, Leeds, Athens, Alabaster (heavy frost in Alabaster)
31 in Vinemont, Anniston, Decatur, Moulton, Albertville, Hartselle, Helena, Jasper
32 in Huntsville, Troy, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Meridianville, Guntersville, Wadley, Northport
33 in Muscle Shoals
34 in Wedowee, Evergreen, Kinston (Coffee County)
35 at Birmingham Airport
36 at Eutaw, Tuskegee, Shelby County Airport (NWS Office)
37 in Auburn
39 in Dothan, Selma and atop Mt. Cheaha
40 in Clay (NE Jefferson County at an elevation of 1032 feet)
41 in Mobile and in Bluff Park (elevation 990 feet, Birmingham area)

REGIONAL
27 in Gatlinburg
14 atop Mt. Leconte in Smoky Mountain NP

NATIONAL
15 below zero at Hallock, Minnesota
34 below at Northway, Alaska

This may be overkill. You may not be interested in all of this information. However, since it was such a late cold snap and lots of stuff was blooming, thought it might be helpful.

* Be sure and scroll down to see Brian's interesting account of his big blowout while storm chasing!

For those of you early to rise...here is a quick check of some 5 o'clock temperatures around Alabama. We will post a final list of low temperatures later this morning. The temperature could still drop a degree or so more by around 6:30 before the sun kicks in:

25 with a heavy frost at Black Creek (NE Etowah County)
27 at a private weather station in Fort Payne
28 at Fort Payne Airport
29 at Anderson (Lauderdale County)
30 in Cullman
31 in Moulton
32 in Gadsden and Meridianville
32 also in NE Trussville (I finally own a themometer, one that I used when I was an official NWS coop observer back in the 1950s)
33 in Decatur and Anniston (low so far in Anniston 32)
34 in Tuscaloosa and Huntsville
36 at Birmingham Airport

* With a good bit of ground level moisture available after Monday night's rain, it is likely that a substantial frost is present this morning in the deeper NE Alabama valleys...places like Valley Head and Fort Payne. Black Creek reports 25 with a heavy frost.

* I estimate that the low in Brewton this morning willbe about 38. If true, that would mean a 50-degree drop in temperature since Monday afternoon when they shared the national high of 88.

James will have his complete discussion, text and video posted here shortly