The ole wedge.
The flow of very cold air down the eastern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains into east Alabama. These ‘back door” cold fronts have given me fits for many years, but you have to deal with them. A nice wedge will set up over the eastern half of Alabama today, and as rain moves into the state our task at hand is to define where and when freezing rain will fall, and the problems that result from the ice. It might be a situation tonight when the bridges become icy over the eastern suburbs of Birmingham in places like Trussville, Moody, and Leeds, but no bridge ice forms at all over places like Bessemer and Pelham. I expect the temperature at the Birmingham Airport to hover around 33 degrees for much of the night. The bottom line is that ice is likely on bridges late tonight and early tomorrow for east Alabama making driving a little tricky. The good news is that most folks will be at home and sleeping in on a cold and rainy day, and we don’t have to deal with school closings.
The rest of the good news is that the ground is relatively warm, so road surfaces will be wet. And, the raindrops will be falling through a layer of much warmer air just off the surface, which means it will take a little longer than usual for ice to form. And, those “warm” raindrops can actually keep surface temperatures up a little. I do expect many of you in east Alabama to see some ice in the trees and on power lines late tonight, but I just don’t think we have much of a chance for any significant power outages.
But, I caution you, these wedge events are very difficult to forecast. I have seen some brilliant meteorologists brought to their knees by events like tonight, so be watching for quick changes in our forecast package. Looks like a long, but exciting day in the weather office. And, more than likely a long night ahead tonight. Lets get the coffee pot ready!
The flow of very cold air down the eastern slopes of the Appalachian Mountains into east Alabama. These ‘back door” cold fronts have given me fits for many years, but you have to deal with them. A nice wedge will set up over the eastern half of Alabama today, and as rain moves into the state our task at hand is to define where and when freezing rain will fall, and the problems that result from the ice. It might be a situation tonight when the bridges become icy over the eastern suburbs of Birmingham in places like Trussville, Moody, and Leeds, but no bridge ice forms at all over places like Bessemer and Pelham. I expect the temperature at the Birmingham Airport to hover around 33 degrees for much of the night. The bottom line is that ice is likely on bridges late tonight and early tomorrow for east Alabama making driving a little tricky. The good news is that most folks will be at home and sleeping in on a cold and rainy day, and we don’t have to deal with school closings.
The rest of the good news is that the ground is relatively warm, so road surfaces will be wet. And, the raindrops will be falling through a layer of much warmer air just off the surface, which means it will take a little longer than usual for ice to form. And, those “warm” raindrops can actually keep surface temperatures up a little. I do expect many of you in east Alabama to see some ice in the trees and on power lines late tonight, but I just don’t think we have much of a chance for any significant power outages.
But, I caution you, these wedge events are very difficult to forecast. I have seen some brilliant meteorologists brought to their knees by events like tonight, so be watching for quick changes in our forecast package. Looks like a long, but exciting day in the weather office. And, more than likely a long night ahead tonight. Lets get the coffee pot ready!