Be Prepared for Showers and Thunderstorms, Monitoring Next Wave

It has been an active weather morning across our area. A significant weather advisory was issued for some of our coverage areas. The fast-moving storm brought wind gusts to 40 mph, small hail, and frequent lightning strikes.

There is a dense fog advisory until 9 am for portions of southern and central counties issued by the National Weather Service Birmingham.

Update at 7:50 am: The NWS cancels Dense Fog Advisory for Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Shelby and Sumter counties.

It continues the dense fog advisory for Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Clay, Coosa, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties until 9 am.

Today can be summed up in one word, wet. I thought it would be good to point out the temperature variance between our area (in the upper 50s – low 60s) and northern Alabama (in the 40s). The National Weather Service Birmingham reports that "showers and thunderstorms will become confined to our south and central counties tonight. Lows will range from the lower 30s northwest to near 60 southeast. Showers with a few thunderstorms on Friday with best chances south. Highs will range from the mid 40s northwest to the mid-60s southeast."

Portions of Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Kentucky are dealing with ice. Not too far away from us, areas north and west of Memphis and Nashville could see the heaviest impacts. There is an ice storm warning issued.

Will Mother Nature Ever Make Up Her Mind?

At this point (which could change), we are looking pretty clear for any winter type of situation for our immediate coverage areas this weekend. However, I can't rule out ice potential in the Northwestern corner of Alabama for Saturday morning.

The next wave comes our way early next week, late Monday, Monday night, and Tuesday morning. It is too far in advance to conclude if it will be all rain or a potential ice scenario.

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ABC 33/40 and Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa Chief Meteorologist James Spann noted that "the reliable European global model suggests thermal values will favor just rain for most of Alabama, with some potential for freezing rain over the northwest corner of the state. It is simply too early for a specific forecast at this point... once we get today's rain out of here, we can focus on this event. As discussed here often in the past week, shallow layers of cold air near the surface can be problematic for global models, certainly for an event five days out."

As always, we will continue to monitor this developing system. - @MaryKRadio

(Source) Click here to follow the Facebook Page for the National Weather Service Birmingham. Click here to follow the Facebook Page for James Spann. Click here to follow the Facebook Page for the National Weather Service Memphis.