VERY COLD AIR ARRIVES TUESDAY; BELOW FREEZING WEDNESDAY MORNING… The coldest temperatures of the fall season so far will happen on Tuesday as a strong cold front moves across our region from northwest to southeast. Ahead of the cold front, we will have rain late Monday into Tuesday morning. There is currently no data to suggest the potential for winter weather (snow/ice) issues across our region, despite the viral fake news/weather posts you may have seen floating around social media in previous days suggesting this. Before the cold air arrives on Tuesday, we’ve got a nice Sunday evening on tap. Temperatures will remain mild on Monday with highs in the 70s ahead of higher rain chances Monday night. Let’s talk details.

GORGEOUS SUNDAY EVENING… It’s a picture perfect Sunday across Alabama and northwest Florida. Temperatures are in the upper-60s in most spots under sunny skies. High temperatures today are headed to around the 70 degree mark in most spots. Get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather today as temperatures will nosedive on Tuesday!

CLOUDS INCREASE MONDAY; HIGHS IN THE 70s… Cloud coverage will progressively increase Monday ahead of our rain chance setting up Monday night into Tuesday morning. While there could be a few showers as early as Monday afternoon, I expect most of the rain to hold off until after 4PM Monday. High temperatures will be in the low-70s on Monday.

RAIN LIKELY MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY… There could be clusters of small showers around from 4PM to 8PM on Monday. After 8 o’clock, rain coverage will likely increase across the region. Instability values remain very low, so I’m not expecting many (if any) thunderstorms across the region on Monday into Tuesday morning. This also means that the severe weather risk will remain basically at zero. We note the Storm Prediction Center does not have any severe weather risk nor the “General Thunderstorms” zone in place. SPC notes that lightning in the precipitation Monday evening through Tuesday morning will be limited due to little to no instability. Showers could linger until mid-morning on Tuesday.

NO SNOW OR MIXED PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED, FOR NOW… I am aware that we have many across our region that would love to see some snow or flurries. I totally understand that since our region rarely has snow. Unfortunately for the snow lovers, NO snow or mixed precipitation is expected as this weather system moves by. There has been some model data showing the potential for a brief (5-10 minute period, maybe) bit of flurries on the back edge of the precipitation as cold air moves in, but based on the fact that we will be warming somewhat during the daylight hours Tuesday morning as rain ends, I see no reason to believe this model data for now. Even if we do happen to have a brief period of flurries as rain comes to an end on Tuesday, no impacts are expected.

QUITE COLD ON 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. Basically, it’s going to be COLD Tuesday into Wednesday!

FREEZE WARNING LIKELY FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING… NWS Mobile will likely issue a Freeze Watch, and subsequently upgrade it to a Freeze Warning, for Wednesday morning. Air temperatures will be in the mid- to upper-20s by 6AM Wednesday with wind chill values in the low-20s across inland areas of south Alabama. We encourage everyone to review their cold weather safety list (what we call the “4 P’s” – check on elderly PEOPLE that may not have good heating sources, outside PETS that may need to be brought inside, outdoor PLANTS that may need to be covered, and exposed PIPES that could burst due to multiple hours below freezing temperatures).

MORE SHOWERS POSSIBLE THURSDAY… Our next chance of rain after Tuesday will happen Thursday as an area of low pressure passes to our south in the central Gulf of Mexico. Coastal areas could have a few rain showers primarily during the evening hours of Thursday. Severe weather is not expected and temperatures likely won’t be low enough to support winter weather issues.

APP… redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you can download the free RedZone Weather app. We post brief updates throughout each day in the app, keeping you up-to-date about the latest happenings in weather across south Alabama and northwest Florida. Once you have the free app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) then tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

See the graphics and details in your Sunday evening #rzw forecast video. Enjoy your evening!