By looking at the above image, you can tell where the cold front is located as of 6:45 pm. It was 58 degrees in Muscle Shoals with showers out ahead of the cold front, but just behind the front in Savannah, just across the state line in Tennessee, the temperature has already dropped to 48 degrees. Back just a few miles to the west in Memphis, it is down to 38 degrees with light sprinkles at this point.
The cold front is currently moving into the northwest corner of the state in Lauderdale County and as the front approaches and passes by, winds will really start to pick up out of the north and temperatures will begin a quick decline toward the freezing mark.
Those showers back over Mississippi will continue to push into the area throughout the rest of the evening and through the overnight hours tonight, and through the morning hours on Tuesday. The rain will be out of the area by midday or earlier and we’ll be left to deal with gusty winds up to 30 MPH out of the north along with winter-like temperatures. Wind chills will be running at least 10 degrees below the actual temperature with the gusty winds.
A Wind Advisory is in effect for all of Central Alabama starting tonight at 11:00 pm tonight and will go through 5:00 pm on Tuesday evening. Sustained winds of 10-20 MPH out of the north can be expected and gusts up to 30-35 MPH are possible at times.
For locations along and north of the I-59 corridor (roughly north of a line from Gadsden to Birmingham to Livingston), we could see a brief change-over to a wintry mix of sleet pellets and snow flurries on the backside of the system while it is exiting the area. The main window for the possibility of that occurring will mainly be from 3:00 am to 9:00 am from northwest to southeast. Once it gets passed the I-59 corridor, it will be well above freezing and will not allow for the wintry mix… it will be just a cold November rain.
While some locations in the northern parts of North Alabama may see a brief dusting on grassy areas, and a small possibility of a couple of slick spots on bridges and overpasses, there should not be any travel issues or any need for schools to close. Don’t go to the local grocery to buy out the bread and milk… you’ll be able to get out and about.
Freeze warnings have been issued for all of Central Alabama that will start during the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday for parts of the area. Here are the list of counties involved with each warning:
The first Freeze Warning will start at 3:00 am Tuesday for Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Marion, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston and will expire Wednesday at 10:00 am.
The second Freeze Warning will start at 3:00 pm Tuesday for Autauga, Chambers, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Lee, Marengo, Perry, Randolph, Tallapoosa and will expire Wednesday at 10:00 am.
The last Freeze Warning will start at 8:00 pm Tuesday for Barbour, Bullock, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, Russell and will expire Wednesday at 10:00 am.
Lows are expected to dip way down in the upper teens to the mid-20s across the area from northwest to southeast during the overnight hours on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 25 can be expected for portions of those counties listed in the first warning as early as 3:00 am on Tuesday morning.
Central Alabama Weather 