Weather AWARE Thursday: Our next cold front will move into and through Alabama on Thursday. It will be warmer, windy and more humid with highs in the mid to upper 60s. This warmer/humid weather will lead to an unstable air mass, and the low to mid-level winds will be parallel to the cold front. This would lead to a fast-moving line of strong to severe storms moving into the state during the late-morning into the afternoon across the state. The line will be pretty small, but it could pack a mean punch for some of you. Everyone will be done with the storms by the late-afternoon, if not sooner.

The severe risk is low at this time. SPC has issued a Level 2/5 Slight Risk for severe weather for most of Central Alabama. There could be some strong winds, heavy rain and a tornado or two. The tornado risk is low, but it can’t be ruled out. The instability will largely be south of I-20, where conditions are a bit better for the upward atmosphere motion, however, even with values near 500, that is enough to kickstart a January storm.

The main focus Thursday will be the heavy and strong winds. But again, we cannot rule a tornado. It must also be noted that these storms will not last long. They may only impact you for 30 minutes to an hour. This will be a fast moving system, so whereas there will be heavy rain, flooding is not a concern.

Friday morning will be cloudy with some snow flurries across the northern third of Alabama, but no accumulation is expected. We will have lingering clouds into Friday afternoon. It will be MUCH COLDER and windy with high temperatures in the 40s, but the wind chill will be in the 30s for much of the day. Friday night will be mostly clear and colder. Lows will range from the upper 20s to lower 30s. The wind chill will be in the 20s.

Weekend Outlook: An area of high pressure will be west of Alabama on Saturday. This will draw down cold northwest winds across the state. We will be sunny, but high temperatures will only be in the upper 40s. The area of high pressure will move east of Alabama on Sunday. We will become a little warmer with a mostly sunny sky. High temperatures will be back in the mid to upper 50s.