A.M. CLOUDS & P.M. SUN TODAY; RAIN SATURDAY; UPDATE ON SNOW CHANCES NEXT WEEK… Clouds around this morning are expected to gradually fade away as skies become mostly sunny this afternoon into the early evening hours. High temperatures will be in the low 60s in many spots today. Get outside and enjoy the fleeting warmth today and tomorrow if you can as rain is set to come back into the forecast Friday night into Saturday ahead of sharply colder air coming in on Sunday. Many questions persist about the potential for snow and/or mixed precipitation across parts of the Deep South next week. While I can’t say for sure whether our local area will have snow or not, we can discuss the factors involved.
RAIN AT TIMES FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY… Scattered showers will become possible Friday night ahead of rain and thunderstorms becoming more likely on Saturday morning. The greatest chance of a few thunderstorms will happen near the Alabama and northwest Florida beaches on Saturday. For now, the overall risk of severe weather (tornadoes and damaging wind gusts) with this system is near zero due to the lack of any surface-based instability. Some of the guidance has indicated there may be a VERY brief window for a strong storm or two near the coast, but those are outlier scenarios for now. For now, we’re planning on rain and thunder at times with no significant hazards.
VERY COLD AIR MOVES IN SUNDAY INTO MONDAY… The system responsible for the rain on Saturday is a cold front that will cross our area from northwest to southeast on Saturday night into Sunday. Sharply colder air pushes in behind the advancing front. Temperatures will be in the upper 40s on Sunday afternoon with a brisk northwesterly wind. Temperatures will nose dive into the 20s on Sunday night into early Monday with wind chill values in the mid 10s by 6AM Monday. Highs on Monday may stay in the 30s all day.
UPDATE ON SNOW/MIX PROBABILITIES FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY… A high amount of uncertainty continues to surround a weather system expected to develop to our west on Tuesday and Wednesday of the upcoming week. This system has at least some chance of causing mixed precipitation and snow across parts of the Deep South. What we know is we will have very cold air in place across the region. What we currently do not know (and won’t know, most likely, until Friday P.M. or Saturday A.M.) is IF an area of low pressure will develop and move toward our local area. If the low doesn’t develop, that would pretty much eliminate any chance of snow/mix/rain for us Tuesday into Wednesday. If the low DOES develop, there is a high chance it will move our way and cause wintry precipitation problems. I don’t want to be more specific than that right now because it is impossible to know where the rain/mix/snow lines will set up. Model guidance over the last 24 hours has really backed off on the idea of a major winter storm for our area. That doesn’t mean the possibility is off the table, but it does mean that we need to review more data as it comes in over the next few days to be able to correctly ascertain details.
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See all the details in your Thursday morning RedZone Weather forecast video. Have a great day!