A Hard Freeze Tonight

December 9, 2005, 2:33 pm
Posted by James Spann in Weather Discussions
Rating: 0/5   Votes : 0
The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

Wow... check out the bomb off the coast at Cape Cod. Pressure down to 992 mb... Boston reports 32 degrees with a thunderstorm! Winds gusting to 61 mph at Nantucket... gusts to 45 at Providence. What a wild day in the northeast...

AROUND HERE: Cold is the word. We are really struggling to reach the low 40s this afternoon, and a hard freeze is ahead tonight. Most spots will drop into the 20 to 25 degree range, but the colder places could reach the upper teens. The weekend will stay dry and cold; a fresh supply of cold air drops in here on Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: The 12Z GFS looks pretty reasonable and is accepted for now. This will bring the best chance of rain in here on Wednesday, followed by yet another surge of cold air Thursday and Friday.

LONG RANGE: The AO and the NAO still suggest colder than normal weather, generally speaking, through the rest of December. I know there are a ton of snow fans that read this blog, and I can't give you anything specifically to hang your hat on at this point. But, the pattern sure favors one, maybe two snow/ice threats between now and the end of the month. Significant winter storms are pretty rare around here in December, but at least the elements are out there we need to make it happen.

Gotta wrap this up early... headed out for a live weather shot from the Birmingham Christmas Parade this evening at 5:00 and 6:00. Have a wonderful weekend and do something fun!
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Posted by Greg  
on December 9, 2005, 2:39 pm
Now that was a solid post by James. I agree with him on that one. The GFS is acceptable for the next 156 hours and favors a slight shift to cooler air in the later half of the pattern followed by a warming trend towards Dec 25th. Looks like any shot of wintry weather will be before and mabey just following Christmas.

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Posted by  
on December 9, 2005, 2:49 pm
I just talked to a guy in Boston. He said it's getting pretty bad up there and he was leaving work early. I didn't ask any details because he wasn't very nice.

I think I'll take James' advise and do something fun this weekend... like a birthday party for my boy!

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Posted by  
on December 9, 2005, 2:54 pm
thats too bad about the guy in boston chris - maybe he just wanted to hurry up and get home because he was nervous about getting stranded or something.
have fun at your son's b/day party!!

greg - maybe we will get some snow somethime this winter. I know we are overdue :-)

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Posted by  
on December 9, 2005, 3:12 pm
Hey Greg I don't mean to pick but where do you see a warming trend in James post???? I just look at it and I don't see where he said anything about a warming trend. All he said was the AO and NAO still favors colder than normal temps for the rest of December. And Perry what do think the winter will be like????

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Posted by Josh  
on December 9, 2005, 3:33 pm
9AM-12PM on DEC 11th the 12z GFS shows a few light flurries on that day for North Alabama:
Not a big deal though
http://www.coolwx.com/ptype/gifs/se.gfsacctype12-19.gif

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Posted by John T.  
on December 9, 2005, 5:51 pm
I just watched James official forecast on tv. Cold this weakend, little milder during the week, chance of rain Thursday, cold again after. Greg, I have to agree with Rusty and what you said. Debating or whatever? Weather is always changing bud. I, my self, am not attacking you personally or I should say that is not my intentions. But I will say when you throw dirt at the 3340 weather team I am going to take up for them. James will as you read admit when he really messed up or missed one. If you really want to learn more and try to understand Alabamas weather we will try to help you any way we can. Have you ever been to one of the "Storm Alert Tours"? If not, and you can when they start back up, go to one or more. They are really great. I invite you to ask more questions, just don't throw stones man. Its just not fair to the weather team. Believe me, they do the best they can. And again, try to read more carefully and understand when they are just "outlooking" down the road v/s when they give a forecast. Its just bad that its not a perfect world. All this is meant in a 'just trying to talk to you', o.k..

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Posted by Greg  
on December 9, 2005, 6:08 pm
Cool. I actually know quite a bit about weather, I have just been picking a little bit to get everyone fired up and on their toes. Lets take a look at the 1800z GFS. Looks like a moderation around Christmas. Thats a bummer, but plenty of time for the GFS to get in line with the NAO. What do you think?

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Posted by  
on December 9, 2005, 6:27 pm
hey greg where from anyway??

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Posted by  
on December 9, 2005, 9:30 pm
hey Greg I don't know if I would want to trust the GFS that far out. Man the GFS has a problem with the short term and the long range, I saw it yesterday and it did show temps warming a bit but Today it showed them back cold again.

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