A blast of cold air greeted the Tennessee Valley Monday with 33 degrees reported at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night. By 6 a.m. temps were in the upper 20s and around 30 degrees across the area. Another cold front was working through the valley during the day, which brought a band of cloudiness and even a few passing sprinkles. Skies are expected to clear out Monday night making way for the next wave of colder air. As you can see on the map below, a large area of strong high pressure will control our weather for the week ahead. With another reinforcing cold front expected by Thursday, it will indeed be a long cold week.
…ALABAMA’S WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IS TODAY THROUGH
WEDNESDAY…NOVEMBER 19TH…
FALL IS HERE…SO WINTER CAN’T BE FAR BEHIND. THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE AND ALABAMA’S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY WOULD LIKE TO
BRING WINTER WEATHER THREATS TO THE FOREFRONT…AND HEIGHTEN
EVERYONE’S AWARENESS TO THESE HAZARDS.
..OUTLOOK
FIRST…A SHORT OUTLOOK FOR THE WINTER. THIS YEAR…ALABAMA WILL BE
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A NEUTRAL CLIMATE PATTERN. THIS WILL RESULT
IN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION ESPECIALLY BY
JANUARY…AND AT OR NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES. WITH THIS PATTERN
TAKING SHAPE…WE AN EXPECT SOME PERIODS OF MILD
WEATHER…INTERMINGLED WITH A FEW BRIEF TYPICAL WINTER WEATHER
EVENTS…OR IN OTHER WORDS…A NEAR NORMAL WINTER IN ALABAMA.
..WINTER TERMS
WIND CHILL…WIND CHILL IS BASED ON THE RATE OF HEAT LOSS FROM
EXPOSED SKIN CAUSED BY THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF WIND AND COLD
TEMPERATURES. AS THE WIND INCREASES…HEAT IS CARRIED AWAY FROM THE
BODY AT AN ACCELERATED RATE…DRIVING DOWN THE BODY TEMPERATURE.
ANIMALS ARE ALSO AFFECTED BY WIND CHILL. INANIMATE OBJECTS SUCH AS
PIPES AND CAR RADIATORS ARE NOT AFFECTED. WHEN THE WIND CHILL
APPROACHES MINUS 20 DEGREES…FROSTBITE CAN OCCUR IN 15 MINUTES OR
LESS. DUE TO THE HAZARDS OF LOW WIND CHILL VALUES…THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE WILL ISSUE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY WHEN
THE WIND CHILL FACTOR IS BETWEEN 0 DEGREES AND TEN DEGREES BELOW
ZERO. A WIND CHILL WARNING WILL BE ISSUED WHEN THE WIND CHILL VALUE
IS BELOW TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
FROSTBITE…FROSTBITE IS DAMAGE TO BODY TISSUE CAUSED BY TISSUE
BEING FROZEN. FROSTBITE CAUSES THE LOSS OF FEELING AND A WHITE OR
PALE APPEARANCE IN EXTREMITIES…SUCH AS FINGERS…TOES…EAR LOBES
OR THE TIP OF THE NOSE. IF SYMPTOMS ARE DETECTED…SLOWLY WARM THE
AFFECTED AREAS AND SEEK MEDICAL HELP IMMEDIATELY.
HYPOTHERMIA…IS THE LOSS OF HEAT FROM THE BODY. WARNING SIGNS ARE
UNCONTROLLABLE SHIVERING…MEMORY LOSS…AND DISTORTION. TREATMENT
SHOULD BE SOUGHT IMMEDIATELY.
WINTER STORM WATCH…ISSUED WHEN TWO OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW IS
POSSIBLE IN A TWELVE HOUR TIME PERIOD OR FOUR OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW
IS POSSIBLE IN A 24 HOUR TIME PERIOD. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS ALSO
ISSUED WHEN AT LEAST A QUARTER OF AN INCH OR GREATER OF ICE IS ALSO
POSSIBLE. THE WATCH IS ISSUED WHEN EITHER THE ABOVE LISTED HEAVY
SNOW OR ICE IS EXPECTED FROM 12 TO 36 HOURS IN THE FUTURE.
WINTER STORM WARNING…ISSUED WHEN TWO OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW IS
EXPECTED IN A TWELVE HOUR TIME PERIOD OR FOUR OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW
IS POSSIBLE IN A 24 HOUR TIME PERIOD. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS ALSO
ISSUED WHEN AT LEAST A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE IS ALSO POSSIBLE
FROM THE CURRENT TIME OUT TO AS MUCH AS 36 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE
CURRENT TIME.
OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS WE WILL COVER MORE WINTER WEATHER HAZARDS
AND HOW TO BETTER PREPARE FOR WINTER WEATHER.
Information from NWS and NOAA
Gary Dobbs, Meteorologist / StormForce 31
