Damaging Storms Possible A MESSY MORNING: The weather map is quite messy across the state early today; areas of heavy rain are sweeping through some parts of Alabama, while the rest of us deal with areas of dense, thick fog. If youre leaving for your Christmas destination today, leave early and pack some extra patience and attentiveness. The weather stays wet at times today and tonight, and the rain will likely be heavy at times. DAMAGING WEATHER? When attempting to predict how bad the weather might be, we run down the list of factors that suggest damaging weather. Then, we look at the list of factors that could limit/prevent damaging weather. Finally, we weigh each factor and then determine what we think will happen. In this instance, the evidence leans towards this being a limited damaging weather risk. Large areas of rain and storms will move across Alabama today, which will cool the atmosphere. Remember, cool air kills storms, warm air builds storms. The rain and clouds will likely keep the warm air bottled up over the southern and western counties of Alabama, which will limit the threat. WHAT? This setup produces three main concerns - flooding is the first and greatest of the three. Rainfall totals of 2-4 are likely across the southern half of the state; flood prone areas are likely to experience isolated flooding problems later today into tonight. Some of the stronger storm cores could produce wind capable of knocking down trees, tree limbs and/or power lines. And, with high levels of wind shear, we cant rule out a brief, isolated tornado. WHERE? Flooding risk exists across the entire area; the risk of isolated damaging wind exists across the entire area; the risk of tornadoes exists primarily south of a line from Demopolis to Troy to Eufaula. WHEN? 4pm today through 4am Wednesday morning. Important to note that rain and storms will develop before 4pm, but the greatest risk of damaging weather comes after 4pm. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Check the batteries and programming of your NOAA Weather Radio. If its the Midland model we sell/program, then hit the big WEATHER button on the top of the radio. If you dont hear a computerized voice talking about the weather, then you have a problem. Download the WSFA Weather App, enable push notifications and keep your phone out of silent mode. Or, if texting is your thing, text your county name to 41212 and youll get free, fast severe weather alerts. CHRISTMAS EVE AND BEYOND: Clouds and a few scattered showers linger tomorrow morning, but most of Christmas Eve will be dry, cloudy and turning colder. Temperatures start tomorrow in the lower 60s, but well drop into the lower 50s by afternoon. Christmas Eve evening will be clear and cold with temperatures dropping into the mid 30s. Sunny, cool weather headlines the forecast on Christmas Day and Friday, with our next rain chance on the way Saturday. LONG RANGE: Colder air returns for the beginning of January. With signs of an active subtropical jet providing moisture, there will likely be some brushes with wintry weather across the Southeast during the first week of January. Stay tuned. And, from my family to yours...Merry Christmas! -Josh Johnson, Doppler 12 StormVison Meteorologist Facebook: Josh Johnson WSFA Twitter: @JoshWeather Opp, Alabama, United States Todays Forecast: Tuesday, 23 Dec 2014 68°F 61°F Sky Conditions: Thunderstorms Sunrise: 6:44 AM Sunset: 4:45 PM Wind: S (191°) @ 11Mph Precipitation Probability: 100% View your complete Local Weather » Thunderstorms Extended Forecast Full 7-Day Forecast » Wednesday 24 Dec 2014 Mostly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy 54°F 60°F Thursday 25 Dec 2014 Sunny Sunny 55°F 37°F Friday 26 Dec 2014 Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny 60°F 34°F Saturday 27 Dec 2014 Showers Showers 62°F 44°F Weather Links
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:06:01 +0000