cold weather

Charity groups and municipal agencies in Jefferson County and Decatur are announcing that they will have warming stations open ahead of Monday night’s forecast with lows in the lower twenties along the Tennessee Valley. Below freezing overnight conditions are expected to continue until Thursday.

An arctic air blast swept south from Canada, spreading into the northern United States. Meanwhile, residents of the Pacific Northwest braced for possible mudslides and levee failures as floodwaters slowly recede. The concern for Alabama and the southeast are brutally cold temperatures tonight and early this week with lows in the mid-teens in some spots.

Huntsville, Dothan, Birmingham, and Garden City in Cullman County spread the word early about the brutal overnight cold. The low temperatures along the Tennessee Valley, over the weekend and into Monday morning, are forecast to be as low as the mid teens. Even the Wiregrass region toward the south was predicted to be in the mid-twenties.

Some of the first wintry weather of the season is on the way for much of the U.S. in the coming days, including potentially record low temperatures for parts of the South and snow in the Northern Plains. Alabama woke up in the upper twenties in Huntsville, upper forties in Mobile, and mid thirties over much of the rest of the state. Chillier conditions are yet to come.

Residents along the Alabama Gulf coast could see something they reportedly haven’t seen in seven years. There’s an eighty five percent chance of snow today. The Gulf coast got a taste of winter weather back in late 2017 and early 2018. That was a tenth of inch. Some forecasts put today’s snowfall at possibly two to five inches.

The forecast calls for frigid temperatures and the threat of black ice on the roads this weekend. This is Alabama’s second arctic blast in just over a week. The last cold snap left up to seven inches of snow, closed schools, and delayed airline flights.

Snow may soon be returning in the forecast across Alabama. The record books say mid-January is historically the coldest time of year in Central Alabama, which can bring wintery weather, ice, sleet and flurries. That could be the case next week, according to meteorologists.

As icy temperatures and arctic air continue to hit Alabama, warming stations are keeping their doors open to help shelter residence from the cold. Stations are open in Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville. That's also the case for Tuscaloosa, where the county's Emergency Management Agency is asking for donations to help those in need.

The forecast calls for the coldest temperatures this week tonight with the upper teens along the Tennessee Valley. Communities from Decatur to Mobile are opening warming stations to help those without heat.

Snowfall is looking more likely for Alabama this week. The National Weather Service said conditions continue to be favorable for the probability of winter precipitation affecting the northern half of the state. This is the prediction for Thursday into Friday.