ABC 33/40 E-Forecast

ABC 33/40 E-FORECAST
Morning Edition For Tuesday December 15, 2009
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Broadway-Style Christmas Musical for the Entire Family

The Church at Ross Station would like to invite you to our
Broadway-style Christmas musical, "Hey Mister, Where's
the Manger?"

The musical will be presented on Saturday and Sunday,
December 19th and 20th. Both performances will be
at 6 p.m. at the theater at Hoover High School.

For tickets and more information about the musical,
visit the church's website at http://www.rossstation.org.
Tickets are free, but required due to limited seating.

The Church at Ross Station meets each Sunday at
Bumpus Middle School in the Lake Cyrus community
in Hoover. Bible Study is at 9:15 a.m. followed by
Contemporary Worship at 10:30 a.m. Dress is casual.
We would be honored for you to be our guest this
Christmas season!

For more information, call 205-428-2451
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...Colder Air Invades Alabama...

COLD FRONT ARRIVES: A cold front will pass through North Alabama early this morning, pushing the rain out of the state by mid-morning, and bringing a surge of sharply colder air. This looks like a day with temperatures going the wrong way; we will begin the day in the 50s, but we should be in the mid to upper 40s by mid to late afternoon with a chill north wind. The clouds will exit the state tonight, and by daybreak tomorrow most places will wind up in the 29 to 33 degree range.

REST OF THE WEEK: We are expecting dry weather for this part of Alabama over the latter half of the week, with temperatures near average values for mid-December; this means highs in the 50s, with early morning lows not too far from the freezing mark. A storm system is forecast to form in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, but it looks like the rain shield from that system will stay south of here, impacting only extreme South Alabama Thursday night and Friday. We could see some clouds around here, but for now we don't expect any significant chance of rain for the northern counties of Alabama.

CHILLY WEEKEND: In the wake of the Gulf storm, more cold air floods Alabama this weekend. We are projecting highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s Saturday and Sunday; some communities up in the Tennessee Valley might have a hard time getting out of the 30s despite a decent amount of sunshine both days.

CHRISTMAS WEEK: It is almost impossible to provide a decent day to day forecast beyond seven days, but global computer models have been fairly consistent in advertising a storm system that will impact Alabama around the middle of next week on Wednesday or Thursday with a good chance of rain, followed by a dry and cold Christmas Day. More than likely, this will change in coming days.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CRITERIA CHANGING: For many years, a severe thunderstorm has been defined as one with winds of 58 mph (50 knots) or greater, or hail 3/4" in diameter (penny size) or larger. Beginning January 5, 2010, the hail criteria will be changed to one inch in diameter (quarter size). I am very hopeful this will cut down on the number of severe thunderstorm warnings, and make them more meaningful again. Seems like most folks don't pay too much attention to these warnings, but we have to remember that we have more straight line wind damage in Alabama than tornado damage.

NINE YEARS AGO TODAY: We were studying a major storm system that was approaching Alabama; it promised to bring some risk of severe thunderstorms to our state the following day, Saturday, December 16, 2000. That day turned out to be a red letter day in Alabama weather history, with a number of violent tornadoes, including an EF-4 that killed eleven people across the southern part of the city of Tuscaloosa. More on this event tomorrow...

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

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Our cute gift cards are beautifully wrapped and ready for you
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You can reach us at info@bigartblessings.com, on facebook,
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Happy Holidays from Big Art Blessings!
=========================================================

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TODAY
Rain ending during the morning. Colder with temps falling into the 40s this afternoon.
Afternoon High 57 (AM)
WIND: N 10-20

WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny.
Morning Low 32 Afternoon High 54
WIND: NE 5-10

THURSDAY
A good supply of sunshine.
Morning Low 32 Afternoon High 56
WIND: E 6-12

FRIDAY
A mix of sun and clouds.
Morning Low 33 Afternoon High 57
WIND: E 7-14

SATURDAY
Partly sunny, breezy, and colder.
Morning Low 30 Afternoon High 44
WIND: N 10-20

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Tonight on ABC 33/40

6:30pm Wheel of Fortune
7:00pm Charlie Brown
Christmas
8:00pm Scrubs
8:30pm Better Off Ted
9:00pm The Forgotten
10:00pm ABC 33/40 News

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