WIND CHILL VALUES BELOW 20° WEDNESDAY MORNING… Very cold temperatures are set to arrive early Tuesday morning across south Alabama and northwest Florida as a potent cold front moves across our area. The National Weather Service has issued a Freeze Watch for the entire local area as subfreezing temperatures are expected Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. This will probably be upgraded to a Freeze Warning in the hours ahead. Air temperatures Wednesday morning will be in the upper-20s, but when the strong northwest breeze is factored in, many spots across west Alabama will have wind chill values (the “feels like temperature”) in the upper-10s.
NO ACCUMULATING SNOW OR ICE IS EXPECTED… I have seen a massive amount of clickbait articles across social media discussing the potential (or really lack thereof) for snow and mixed precipitation across Alabama on Tuesday morning. Unfortunately for snow lovers locally, we just don’t have any real chance of mixed precipitation or snow on Tuesday. While there seems to be a LOW chance of a brief changeover to sleet as precipitation comes to an end across the northwest corners of Washington and Clarke counties in west Alabama (and perhaps in Marengo and Choctaw counties), impacts are currently NOT expected. The most likely scenario for west Alabama, for now, is a cold rain. That will almost certainly be the story on Tuesday morning for the rest of us to the east of the Alabama River: Cold, miserable rain with nothing in the way of snow or mixed precipitation.
VERY COLD TUESDAY… There is a high chance that temperatures “go the wrong way” on Tuesday. Our technical high temperature will happen just after midnight when most spots are in the 60s. The cold front will move by between 2AM and 8AM, bringing down temperatures into the 40s by 8AM Tuesday. Most spots will remain in the 40s all day Tuesday with a cold 5-15 mph wind out of the northwest. Wind chill values may be in the 30s all day on Tuesday, which will probably go down as one of our coldest days of 2019.
TEMPERATURES IN THE 20s WEDNESDAY MORNING… Temperatures will be below 30 degrees for several hours on Wednesday morning, probably from 1AM to 8AM. Our forecast calls for most spots across south Alabama and northwest Florida to find a minimum air temperature at 6AM Wednesday between 25-29°. The wind chill during this time frame will be in the 17-21° range due to the strong northwest wind.
TEMPERATURES MODERATE LATER THIS WEEK… This will be a pronounced cold snap through Thursday. Temperatures will drop below freezing again Wednesday night into Thursday morning. We warm into the 60s by Thursday with lows in the 40s this weekend. This won’t be a long duration, weeklong freeze event or anything close to that, but it IS a classic fall cold snap for the Deep South with two nights of temperatures below freezing.
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.
Have a nice Veterans Day Monday evening!