No Dull Days Here

The afternoon video is on the server:

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

Lets break it down:

*Pre-Christmas storm: A slight risk of severe thunderstorms is outlooked by SPC for the southern two-thirds of Alabama on Wednesday. Latest run of the GFS takes the surface low from near Lake Charles to Scottsboro to Cleveland (thats Cleveland, Ohio, not Cleveland, Alabama)... should put down a nice strip of snow to the left of the low track. Heaviest snow could fall in parts of east Indiana and west Ohio.

Our severe weather chances will depend on the quality of unstable air returning from the Gulf... rather iffy. Otherwise, wind fields will be very strong and there will be plenty of lift. Will have to watch for isolated tornadoes, especially over south Alabama, beginning Wednesday afternoon. We should go into the low 60s, am amazing rise from the teens this morning (see J.B.'s post below with the list of low temperature reports).

We will also continue to mention a brief period of light snow or snow flurries Thursday morning as another big blast of cold air arrives. It should not amount to much, and should not last long. We stay in the 30s all day Thursday with wind chill values below freezing.

*Christmas COLD: We will promise cold weather for Christmas. Teens are likely Saturday morning.

*Christmas SNOW: The latest run of the GFS (12Z) still shows an impulse riding out of the western Gulf of Mexico Friday, bringing snow to far south Louisiana and Mississippi, and ultimately the southern half of Alabama Friday night into early Saturday.

Model data suggests the best chance of snow will be south of a line from Linden to Clanton to Anniston, and the best chance of accumulating snow will be southeast of Montgomery. Yep, a white Christmas this year is more likely in Troy and Dothan than Birmingham.

BUT, we still wonder if the GFS due to a cold bias is placing the surface low too far south in the Gulf Friday night (the current run puts the low southwest of Tampa Bay). This setup could change one way or the other; so stay tuned. Watch the video for complete details.

I have a gazllion e-mail messages from people wanting individual briefings... will have to send them here due to lack of time!