Morning Rain/Storms; Falling Temps All Day

A widespread soaking rain is ongoing first thing this morning, along with the rain, expect very strong gradient winds (not related to rain or storms), these could gust as high as 30 mph through the morning. As far as sever weather, portions of South and Southwest Alabama are under a tornado watch until 11 AM this morning as there is a chance of an isolated, brief tornado or two ahead of the front.

ARCTIC BLAST: Once the front passes your location, temperatures will only fall through the day tomorrow. Highs for today actually came at midnight. This morning, temperatures are in the 50s and 60s for much of South/Central Alabama will fall all day and fall into the 30s by the afternoon. Add in those blustery northwest winds of 15-30 mph, and it will feel much colder. As the cold air spills into the state, some light sleet, snow flurries, and snow showers will be possible over the northern half of the state. Sure there will be some excitement with the flurries flying around, but the main story will be the frigid air as the sky will clear tonight, and by daybreak Friday we project temperatures in the mid 20s over South/Central Alabama, again, with breezy conditions lingering, wind chills on Christmas morning, will be well down in the teens at times. For Christmas Day, expect a day full of sunshine, but it will remain cold with highs struggling to reach 40° for most locations.

WEEKEND WEATHER: Saturday morning should be the coldest and will feature another hard freeze with lower 20s, and perhaps a few teens, but we begin a warming trend under a mainly sunny sky, temperatures should return to the low 50s Saturday afternoon. Saturday night, the sky remains clear, with lows in the mid to upper 20s. Temperatures return to the 50s on Sunday afternoon, with more sun than clouds and it will remain a dry day.

NEXT WEEK: Some light rain showers will be possible with a weak disturbance passing through the state on Monday, but nothing of significance. Temperatures through midweek will be fairly mild with 60s for highs and 40s for lows. Also midweek, a strong storm system looks to move out of the Rockies and head east, likely bringing rain and storms back to Alabama to end the year. Too early to know if severe storms will become an issue, but another surge of cold air looks to arrive with the New Year to end the week.

Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Ryan