CLEARING SKIES TODAY; WINTRY MIX OR SNOW THIS WEEKEND?… Skies will become sunny on this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with high temperatures projected to be in the mid-50s. Winds will continue to be out of the northwest at 5-10 mph, although gusts as high as 20 mph will continue to be possible today. Cold temperatures are expected in the overnight hours with some spots north of US84 likely dipping into the upper-20s by daybreak on Tuesday. Most spots will be around 30 degrees by daybreak. Our next rain chance happens Wednesday night into Thursday when scattered showers will be possible. The real forecast challenge happens this weekend when an area of low pressure may develop and move by to the south of our area. That is when we have a potential chance of snow and/or mixed precipitation. It is too early to know any specifics, but in some scenarios, snow will be a possibility locally. Please check back in over the next several days as we approach this potential event.
COLD TEMPS OVERNIGHT; SUNNY TUESDAY AHEAD… Temperatures will be below the freezing mark by 6AM Tuesday in many spots across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Upper-20s are likely in communities like Thomasville, Monroeville, Beatrice, Peterman, Fulton, Coffeeville, Gilbertown, Greeenville, Georgiana, and McKenzie. South of U.S. Highway 84, low-30s are likely. Sunshine expected throughout the day on Tuesday will help to moderate temperatures into the mid- to upper-50s tomorrow afternoon.
INCREASING CLOUDINESS WEDNESDAY; A FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE… Clouds will increase in coverage on Wednesday ahead of a few rain showers becoming possible late in the evening hours. High temperatures on Wednesday will be in the upper-60s.
RAIN LIKELY THURSDAY… Showers will become likely on Thursday, particularly in the morning hours, as a frontal boundary approaches our area from the northwest. This will be an “all rain” system with no real chance of snow or mixed precipitation noted as the air temperatures and the atmospheric profile will simply be too warm. A few storms may be possible in some scenarios on Thursday, although widespread severe weather seems rather unlikely.
FORECAST UNCERTAINTY FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND… Forecast uncertainty is HIGH for Saturday and Sunday as an area of low pressure develops to our west and ultimately moves near or over south Alabama and northwest Florida. Some forecast models have hinted at the possibility of snow or freezing rain for parts of our area while many other models point to an “all rain” scenario with snow and mixed precipitation being more likely to our north. We simply do not have the skill set to be able to hone in on specifics this far out (6 days). The big takeaway right now is that we will have the right set of ingredients in place to potentially support a cold rain, sleet, freezing rain, or snow SOMEWHERE across parts of the Deep South this weekend. Too early to know anything beyond that.
SNOW LOVERS: DON’T GET TOO EXCITED JUST YET… Snow is one of those things that elicits a lot of good feelings from many folks across our area, and rightfully so. Snow is a rarity around here. There IS a chance of some scenarios that could produce snow or mixed precipitation across our area this weekend, but I would encourage you (if you are a snow lover) not to get too excited just yet. Why? Because we have several days until this potential event and a lot can and WILL change in the forecast between now and then. I’ll continue to review the latest data and keep you posted in the days ahead in the RedZone Weather app.
APP… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Monday morning #rzw forecast video. Have a great day!