BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The latest model projections are in good agreement that there will in fact be some winter weather mischief this weekend. 

Let’s start with Friday and move into Saturday. 

For tonight, with a clear sky, morning temperatures tomorrow will fall into the 30s. By afternoon, highs will return to the mid 50s under a mostly sunny sky. 

The setup this weekend will be caused by an area of low pressure that moves across the deep south. In situations where we are talking inches of snow and more confidence in the winter weather, we like to see that low start in the Gulf and move from the southwest to the east northeast. This is NOT the case for this setup. This will be a much more lateral moving low, meaning the cold air won’t be as aggressive in overtaking the warmer air ahead of the low over Alabama. 

Rain will develop late Saturday afternoon and continue overnight into Sunday morning. Cold air will be racing in behind the front and on the back side of this low. For this reason, there will absolutely be some rain changing over to snow between 4am Sunday – Noon Sunday. The biggest question is, how far south will the cold air reach and will there be enough cold air to prompt much accumulation. 

At this time, the ground is likely going to stay too warm for much of anything to stick. There may be some spots that see light accumulations, but I think the roads stay in good shape. It’s always important to be mindful of bridges and overpasses when driving, as these do freeze first. 

In all, this is definitely something to watch, but based on what I am seeing now, this isn’t going to shut much down. It may impact some drives to church Sunday morning, but beyond that, it will just get cold. Monday is a holiday so schools will already be closed for the day. If you see snow, it should be another round of pretty snow, without much of the mess. No need for bread and milk. With temperatures staying close to the freezing mark, I don’t foresee ice being a huge concern either, so we shouldn’t see much in the way of power outages either.