ABC 33/40 E-Forecast

ABC 33/40 E-FORECAST
Morning Edition For Thursday March 12, 2009
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ALABAMA ONE CALL
KNOW WHAT'S BELOW
CALL 811 BEFORE YOU DIG

Whether planning to do it yourself or hire a professional excavator,
smart digging means calling 811 before each job to find out where
it's safe to dig.

Every digging project requires a call to Alabama One Call--even
small projects like building a fence, planting shrubs and trees or
installing a mailbox.

One free easy call to 811 or 205-252-4444 at least 48 hours
prior to digging:

* Gets utility owned lines marked for free!
* Complies with Alabama Act 94-487.
* Helps prevent undesired consequences and possible service
disruptions to your neighborhood.

Visit http://www.al1call.com for more information.
===================================================================

...Wet Weekend Ahead...

RAIN CHANCES HEADED UP: While we won't see much rain around here
today, we do expect a good soaking tomorrow and into the weekend.
Today's rain should be light and spotty, and mainly along and north of
I-20. Totals today should be under a quarter of an inch, and many
places won't have enough rain to measure. The cooling trend will
continue; most places north of I-20 won't get out of the 50s, while
South Alabama could reach the 70s. The sky will be generally cloudy.

A GOOD SOAKING: Rain will begin to become more widespread across the
state tomorrow as moist air runs up and over the shallow layer of
cooler air near the surface. We will highlight periods of rain and a
few thunderstorms over the weekend as a wave of low pressure slowly
moves along the old front, that continues to just hang around here.
Three day rain totals (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) are forecast to
be in the 2 to 3 inch range over the northern half of the state, which
will surely knock out our rain deficiency for 2009 of 0.26". Severe
weather is not expected due to a stable airmass across the Deep South.
Model data suggests that the rain could linger into Monday of next
week, but by Tuesday most all of the rain will be east of Alabama, and
for now the rest of next week looks dry with seasonal temperatures.

AT THE BEACH: A few widely scattered showers are possible along the
Central Gulf Coast today, but most places will stay dry with a few
peeks of sunshine. Scattered showers and storms will be around
tomorrow and over the weekend, perhaps lasting into Monday. Then,
drier air returns Tuesday with a mostly sunny sky, and the rest of
next week should be dry in the general area from Panama City westward
to Gulf Shores. Along the immediate coast, afternoon highs will be in
the mid to upper 60s, with 70s inland. The sea water temperature at
the Dauphin Island Sea Lab last night was 64.8 degrees (F).

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO TODAY: The "storm of the century" brought a
remarkable snow storm to Alabama. The storm has been described as the
most costly non-tropical storm ever to strike the USA doing an
estimated $6 billion in damage. The storm was as strong as a hurricane
in terms of winds and low pressure. The pressure dropped to an
incredible 28.35 inches mercury or 960 mb when then storm was located
over the Chesapeake Bay. I will never forget that Friday night; winds
gusted to hurricane force at our weather center atop Red Mountain, and
snow drifts were almost to the roof of the studio. The official snow
total for Birmingham was 13 inches, the largest snow event on record
for the city. But, some of the southern suburbs reported two feet of
snow. The city was paralyzed for three days, and the temperature
dropped to 2 degrees above zero on the following Sunday morning (March
14). Everybody that was around here at the time has a "blizzard story"
to tell. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime storm for Alabama.

James Spann
jspann@abc3340.com

ABC 33/40 7 Day Planner: http://cfc.abc3340.com/abc3340/7day.cfm
ABC 33/40 Weather Blog: http://www.alabamawx.com

=========================================================
A NEW LAKE COMMUNITY

Horizons on Logan Martin Lake in Pell City, Alabama is a new lake
lifestyle community. As of this month, we have available for sale and
occupancy, 4 upscale town homes and 31 prime lake lots.

The community is unique in that there are 15 acres of common lake
property with 3000 feet of shoreline.

There is an 8 foot wide boardwalk the entire 3000 feet, ready
for your morning or evening walk. The clubhouse is complete
and includes an upstairs and downstairs great room and kitchen,
an exercise room, 12 foot covered porch all around, pool,
showers and much more.

You can buy your lot and plan your dream home and start enjoying all
the amenities today. Launch your boat on our private launch, dock at
your private space or just sit on the boardwalk and tan. Enjoy the
pool, take a shower before dinner and plan your own get together at
the 4000 square foot club house.
Check us out at http://www.horizonsloganmartinlake.com or call
ReMax Realty Pros at 205-884-6000
=========================================================

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TODAY
Mostly cloudy and cool. Some scattered light rain.
Afternoon High 59
WIND: NE 7-14

FRIDAY
Cool with periods of rain.
Morning Low 47 Afternoon High 58
WIND: E 7-14

SATURDAY
A good chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Morning Low 48 Afternoon High 62
WIND: SE 7-14

SUNDAY
Occasional rain.
Morning Low 51 Afternoon High 63
WIND: S 7-14

MONDAY
Mostly cloudy with a good chance of showers.
Morning Low 52 Afternoon High 64
WIND: SW 6-12

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Tonight on ABC 33/40

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