Cool and dry through Saturday, rain arrives on Sunday

Thursday: Nearly a carbon-copy of New Year’s Day, high temperatures will reach the lower half of the 50s under sunny skies. Winds will be a bit lighter, making it not feel as chilly.

Friday: Sunshine continues into the end of our week with highs in the lower 50s.

This Weekend: Cold and dry weather will be how we start the weekend with lows in the middle/upper 20s on Saturday morning. Areas in higher elevations and locally cooler spots northeast of Birmingham will dip into the lower 20s. Expect partly cloudy skies Saturday afternoon with highs only reaching the middle 40s.

On Sunday, temperatures will warm ahead of an approaching storm system which will spread scattered rain showers across the region by Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will start out in the 40s before warming into the lower 50s on Sunday evening with rain showers continuing. The bulk of the rain will fall along the leading edge of the cold front which pushes through on Sunday night into early Monday. No wintry weather will occur with this particular system. Some stronger winds are possible in the main line of rain Sunday night into Monday morning.

The rain will quickly come to an end likely during the wee hours Monday morning as temperatures begin to fall throughout the day. Note that it also be very windy as this storm system passes by. Expect wind gusts to reach possibly as high as 40 mph on Sunday evening into the overnight. Any holiday decorations still up will need to be secured before then. Breezy conditions last into Monday as temperatures fall through the 40s and into the 30 by late afternoon. Very cold weather arrives by next Tuesday with highs only around 40° and overnight lows in the upper teens to low 20s on Wednesday morning.

Looking ahead into the middle of January, there are strong signals for an extremely cold blast of arctic air. There is also the potential for a wintry system to move through around January 9-10th, but we will monitor trends closely until then.