Good morning! I think I have some pretty good news. The holiday forecast is improving. That approaching disturbance on Christmas is fizzling. Today will be really nice. Lots of sun. Highs in the lower 60’s. Tonight, we stay above freezing, finally. Christmas Day looks better. Even some sun mixed in with some clouds. Very mild. High in the mid 60’s. And now, the rain chance is very tiny indeed. Isolated showers, perhaps, late afternoon into the evening. Most towns will stay dry. The next “bigger deal” involves a weekend storm system. Showers and thunderstorms are becoming more likely, especially by Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. It’s too early to say if this will be a severe weather threat. Meanwhile, expect some very mild temperatures over the next 10 days. Here’s my brief forecast discussion.
TODAY: Lots of sunshine. Warm-up continues High 63. East wind 5 to 10 mph. Mainly clear, not as cold tonight. Low 37.
CHRISTMAS FORECAST:
On Christmas Day: It’s a better forecast. That approaching disturbance is fizzling. Rain chances in the late afternoon and evening are now tiny, and mostly in SW Alabama, There will eve n be some rays of sun mixed in with the clouds . Relatively mild. AM low 37. PM high near 65. Low Christmas night 47.
CHRISTMAS PAST: We’ve had some pretty wild Christmas weather extremes in the 47 years I have covered your weather. That includes the coldest and hottest Christmas Days.
We’ve never had an official White Christmas in Montgomery since records started in 1872, but, many of us saw snow falling and even a whitening of the ground back in 2010. MGM reported a Trace. Auburn and parts of the Lake Martin area had an official White Christmas. Officially, that’s when you have 1”of snow on the ground Christmas morning.
On Christmas 2012 we had a big tornado day. Eleven tornadoes in Alabama, 8 of which were right here in central Alabama. This includes 3 Strong EF-2’s and five EF-1’s. This map shows just the central Alabama tornadoes.
I’ve had lots of fun tracking Santa on TV on Christmas eve over the years!
NEXT FEW DAYS: Temperatures will be very mild for several days. Following that small rain chance of Christmas evening, Thursday and much of Friday looks dry. The next “bigger deal” involves a weekend storm system. Showers and thunderstorms are becoming more likely, especially by Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. Could be some strong storms.
Here’s Saturday evening on the EURO. Showers and storms are becoming likely. It’s too early to say if this will be a severe weather threat.
Here’s the 10 Day model temperature blend. VERY Mild.
Thanks for reading the blog. The next scheduled Blog Update and Video is scheduled for Thursday morning.
Chase and I are wishing you a Very Merry Christmas!
–Rich