NEW YEAR’S DAY UPDATE – Wet at Times Rest of This Week – But, Hang on!

Happy New Year!   What a difference, as 2019 begins! We had single digit wind chill at Dawn, as 2018 began.  This morning temperatures are in the 60’s!   Yes, the threat of rain continues in our forecast continues for a few more days, but hang on!  There’s light at the end of the tunnel.  A string of nice days is on the not too distant horizon, as we look to the first weekend of 2019 and beyond.  And, thankfully, unlike last year at this time, I don’t see any arctic outbreaks in our immediate future, looking several days into the future.

TODAY:  Cloudy, damp, but very mild, on this New Years Day. A stalled front across south central Alabama will be the focus for occasional showers.  Best chance of rain will be from the I-85 corridor southward.  High in the upper 60’s.  Low tonight mid 50’s.

THE NEXT FEW DAYS:  The risk of more rain continues.  The stalled front near the Gulf coast, and southwesterly winds in the upper atmosphere, will set the stage for more periods of rain through Thursday.  In fact, a developing low pressure system will move northward from the coast into central Alabama Friday with a new surge of showers and storms, and potentially heavy rainfall totals.    It’s too early to say if storms will reach severe limits.  Stay tuned.  More on my video in the morning.

EXPECTED RAINFALL:  Total rainfall between now and Friday could be rather significant in spots, especially Thursday night and Friday.  Some towns could see 2-3 additional inches of rain, which will lead to potential flooding.

NICE WEATHER WILL RETURN!:  Hang on!  Sunshine will make a big comeback this weekend.  Look for an extended period of nice weather, with lots of sunshine and very nice temperatures for January.  Just what the doctor ordered!

CLIMATE DATA:  Yesterday’s high was an amazing 77!  Our low, on this New Year’s morning was 65.  This is a far cry from New Year’s morning 2018 with 21° and a wind chill of 8.  Our high on that day was only 33 with a low of 18 that night.  (Normal high 57, low 36)   Today’s expected high 68°.  Happy New Year.

FOR THE YEAR 2018:  At the Montgomery Airport, rainfall was about two inches above normal.  Total for the year, ending at Midnight was 55.19″.

I hope you have a Safe and Happy New Year!  Enjoy the Bowl games on TV today.  I’ll be back to producing a regular video update tomorrow morning.  My alarm goes off at 1:35AM, your video will be posted by 4:45AM.   Enjoy your holiday!

Rich

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