A Big Warm-Up

The Thursday morning web video update is on the server:

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

Let me plug our one hour Storm Alert 2005 TV special... if you missed the tour this year, you can see most of the video elements in the TV show that will air this Sunday evening on ABC 33/40 from 6:00 until 7:00 p.m. See stories about Bill Murray's tornado chase in the plains, Hurricane Ivan, and much more.

Wow... how about that J.B. Elliott blog post at 2:04 a.m.! I love reading about his adventures with Miss Molly. Better than watching an Andy Griffith show.

COMING WEATHER ATTRACTIONS:

*Looks like we go into the low 70s easily today, and both models are now showing 80 degrees tomorrow. Looks like we will need to bump forecast high temperatures up a bit tomorrow.... I have mentioned a few widely scattered showers tomorrow in the forecast package, but both models look pretty dry. If any showers form, they should come later in the day with a weak surface front sagging into the state from the north. The ultimate position of that front will play a big role in the severe weather potential this weekend.

*Easter weekend severe threat: The air will be very unstable over Alabama south of the stalled from on Saturday, with CAPE values exceeding 2000. A deep upper trough will approach from the west, and you know what happens. Looks like we will have the chance of scattered thunderstorms during the day Saturday, and a few isolated severe storms are possible. But the main organized severe weather event seems to be shaping up for Saturday night and early Easter Sunday morning, most likely in the 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. time frame.

SPC has about the southern two-thirds of Alabama in a severe weather risk for Saturday and Saturday night, and they indicate it will be upgraded to a moderate risk tomorrow. Looks like another significant severe weather event across the deep south, so once again you will need to be close to a good source of weather information. EVERY ALABAMA CHURCH NEEDS TO HAVE A SEVERE WEATHER PLAN, AND A NOAA WEATHER RADIO. I put that in all caps because a majority of Alabama churches do not have a plan and a weather radio receiver. While it is beginning to look like the severe weather threat this weekend will come before church services begin, we still need to address this issue. We all remember the tragedy at the Goshen United Methodist Church on Palm Sunday in 1994. Watch the 30 minute special when you have time on our video page:

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

(Scroll down to the Palm Sunday tornado special, which aired last year. You can watch the entire program online)

The GFS and the NAM both have a dry slot in here by mid-morning Sunday, so it now looks like we will break out into sunshine by the time you get out of church. We have to wonder if we will have one more batch of storms along the actual cold front Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening. Not out of the question.

*More stormy periods: The GFS is advertising the potential for more stomy weather around here around March 31 and April 5. No doubt this is the core of the spring tornado season.


Looking forward to lunch today with Brian Peters of our staff and Bill Collum and his gang from the Chilton county EMA. Be back in the office after that with the afternoon update later today...