SUNDAY UPDATE: Much Cooler Days – Rain Risk Tuesday – Christmas Warm-up

     Good Morning!  After drenching rain across the area Saturday, the rain risk will end this morning, as a cool front exits the state.  Much cooler air will dominate the forecast today and through the first half of Christmas Week.

    There’s more rain in the forecast Monday Night & Tuesday as a Gulf of Mexico storm system brushes by the area.  But, in general, Christmas week should be mainly dry.  By late week, temperatures will start to warm.  We could be in the lower 70’s by Christmas Day and storm-free.  More about the Christmas forecast below.

TODAY:  Risk of light rain and showers, mainly before 9AM.  Temperatures will be in the lower 60’s at Dawn, falling to the 50’s by lunchtime.  Cloudy, breezy & cool.  Colder tonight.  Overnight low 39.

NEXT FEW DAYS: Cloudy & cool Monday…upper 50’s.  Areas of mostly light rain late Monday Night and Tuesday.  Cool & dry Wednesday.  Warming trend Thursday through Christmas Day.  Nice string of storm-free days.

A low pressure storm system moving over the northern Gulf will bring the risk of rain back to the state Monday night into Tuesday.  Mainly across the southern half of the state.

CHRISTMAS DAY:  We’ll be on the west side of high pressure, so look for a rather mild day with highs into the lower 70’s, after morning lows in the lower 50’s.  Last year Christmas Day was COLD:  Low 26, High 42.   This year we should be about 30 degrees warmer.

CHRISTMAS PAST:  This will be the 44th Christmas Forecast I have covered for you.  Coldest on record 5 in 1983.   Warmest 82 in 2016.  Many towns had some snow back in 2010.  (Officially Montgomery has never had a White Christmas, since records began in 1872)   2012 was the year we had a series of tornadoes. There were 17 tornadoes in central & south Alabama that Christmas Day.  2015 featured torrential rain and  terrible flooding Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   

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I’ll have a complete video in the morning, online by 4:45 AM.  I hope you have a nice Sunday.    

–Rich

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