Next week could be very impactful, says the National Weather Service in Birmingham. Two prominent items to note: cold temperatures and winter precipitation.
Cold:
By early evening Sunday, temperatures should drop below freezing. By Monday morning, temperatures will be in the low teens in the north, and the upper teens in the south. The wind chill value – what the air will ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE with the wind added to the low temperature – will be around 0 degrees in the north, with a few areas below zero and 7-9 degrees in the south.
These wind chill values can get dangerous quickly. Remember all of your safety tips. Bring pets inside, protect your pipes and let them drip, remember heating tips and don’t leave a space heater close to literally anything, and check on friends and family.
The temperatures will struggle to get above freezing for several days, until Thursday. Areas around I-85 and south may, and that’s a low confident “may” see highs Monday and Tuesday hovering a degree or two above freezing, but if models trend colder, that may not materialize.
Winter:
Models are trending towards at least some wintry precipitation in central Alabama. The main timing right now looks to be Tuesday through Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. This event is still 5 days out, so a whole lot can change until then.
Because the system bringing this wintry precipitation is moving through the Gulf, higher snow accumulations should be farther south, with lower amounts farther north. Right now, chances are slowly increasing for some sort of snowfall accumulations in areas south of I85, with a few trying to show a chance for snow between I-20 and I-85.
It looks like the entire profile of the atmosphere will be below freezing right now, which means the main precipitation would be snowfall. With this type of environment, the cold air could squeeze out any moisture and areas in the north may see flurries without accumulations expected.
Impacts could be significant, depending on what the snow does. This is partly because of the snow (enough said), but also because temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing for several days. Anything that falls may not melt for several days.
What you should do: pay attention to the forecast updates, and please pay attention to your local Emergency Management and local officials for any updates as we move through the holiday weekend. Review cold safety tips before Monday morning so you know how to keep you and loved ones safe.
Stay with WEIS 100.5 FM, 990 AM, and the WEIS Radio App for the latest winter weather updates.
