By Jim Stefkovich, Meteorologist, Alabama Emergency Management Agency
CLANTON – An upper level disturbance may bring areas of freezing rain and sleet for the region west of I-65 to near and south of I-20, from as early as 3 am Sunday and lasting until around 10 am. This is a very difficult forecast, in respect to a couple of degrees colder than predicted temperatures and a pre-dawn start to the precipitation could cause more impacts, especially to roads.
The good news is this system will bring total precipitation amounts of around 0.10 inch or less where potential freezing surface temperatures may occur. As I mentioned, sleet is also a possibility, but snow is not. Stayed tuned to this developing situation and be prepared for potential hazardous driving conditions Sunday morning in the region mentioned above.
It will also be bitterly cold across the state this coming week. Overnight lows will range from the mid teens in north Alabama to 32 degrees near the coast early Monday morning, single digits north to lower 20s coast early Tuesday morning, and mid teens north to middle 20s coast both Wednesday and Thursday Morning.
The graphic shows the low temperature forecast from the National Weather Service across Alabama and the southeast US around dawn Tuesday morning. This will likely be the coldest night of the week statewide.
The news doesn’t get much better for afternoon high temperatures, either. In fact, many areas in the northern 1/3 of the state will likely drop below freezing Saturday evening and not rise above freezing until Wednesday afternoon!
Remember the four P’s during this cold outbreak…People, Pets, Plants and Pipes! Please ensure all of these are protected this week.
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