BLACK FRIDAY UPDATE:  Clear Sailing for Now – Saturday Night Storm System – Big Temperature Plunge Soon

Good Morning!   Whether you are a Black Friday shopper, or just enjoying the Holiday weekend off…today will be a GREAT late November day.  On Thanksgiving, Montgomery’s high was 71°, and it was 73° here on the Alabama Coast.  Today & Saturday we are headed back to the 70’s.  Timing is everything.  Looks like the weather will be great for the Big Game in Auburn, tomorrow.  That Weekend Storm system, we’ve been tracking, should hold off until Saturday night.  Then, look for a big temperature plunge behind that storm, as we start a new week and a new month.

Elsewhere:  Many Americans are dealing with the Second Big Holiday Weekend storm system.  It is causing hundreds of canceled and delayed flights.  Major Travel Nightmare.

TODAY:   Should be a great day!   Considerable high cloudiness, mixed with sunshine. Comfortable.  High 73°.  Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.  Partly cloudy tonight.  Not quite as cold…Low 50.

IRONBOWL GAME FORECAST:  I didn’t see any reason to make changes in the forecast.  It simply looks great.  For the tailgaters, it will be a chilly, but typical November morning with an early morning low of 48° .  The High during the afternoon will reach the low 70’s.  Winds will not be a factor:  South wind 5 to 10 mph.  I have the rain chance at 10% or less.  The Weekend Storm system should hold off until Saturday night.  Epic weather for the Ironbowl!

NEXT FEW DAYS:  So, we have nice weather today, and most of Saturday.  Showers & storms, possibly severe, Saturday night.  Rain threat continues Sunday morning, then sharply colder, with falling temperatures.  We’ll fall to the 30’s Sunday night.  Monday’s high will barely scrape 50°.  We are headed for a sub-freezing Tuesday morning.  Fortunately, the cold air won’t linger long, this time.

WEEKEND SEVERE THREAT?:  No change in thinking for Saturday evening’s Severe Weather Threat, which could begin as early as 6PM in the far western counties.  The threat will continue in the overnight hours through about 6AM in the east and southeast counties.  All modes of severe weather are possible, including damaging winds to 60 MPH, and a few brief tornadoes.  It’s a similar set up to that Thanksgiving Eve storm system which brought tornado damage to Pike and Barbour counties.

The Severe Weather Threat area from the local Birmingham NWS office shows the threat area covering all but for eastern and NE Alabama, through 6AM Sunday.

The graphic from the Storm Prediction Center is a little different.  It mainly includes the western strip of counties.

HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM THE ALABAMA COAST:  It was a picture-postcard Thanksgiving.  I had a wonderful food experience at the Perdido Beach Resort Thanksgiving Buffett. Bailey is here with me, and she sends warm holiday greetings to you and your family!

Enjoy this weather!  In many parts of the country, the weather is awful!

I hope you and your family have a GREAT Holiday Weekend.  I’ll have another Blog update in the morning, as we monitor that Saturday night storm system.  Happy Black Friday!

–Rich

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