James Spann: Hard freeze tonight, warming trend to follow

COLD: The coldest air so far this season has invaded Alabama as advertised. Temperatures are below freezing over the northern half of the state at daybreak, and wind chill indices are in the teens in spots. Today will be cold and windy with temperatures holding in the 30s over the northern third of Alabama; highs will be in the 40s for the rest of the state.

A few light snow flurries are possible over the far northeast counties today, but there won’t be any impact or accumulation. We do note there is a winter storm warning in effect for the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and western North Carolina.

Tonight all of Alabama will experience freezing temperatures, even along the Gulf Coast. Most of the state will be in the 20s early tomorrow morning, with upper teens for some of the colder spots.

WARMER DAYS: A warming trend begins tomorrow as afternoon temperatures reach the 50s. We will be in the 60s Wednesday, followed by low to mid 70s Thursday and Friday. The air will stay dry, so expect sunny days and fair nights.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Saturday will be dry and mild with a high in the 70s; clouds will increase Sunday, and rain returns to the state late in the day and Sunday night ahead of an upper trough. At this point it looks like rain amounts will be mostly under a half inch. Some thunder is possible, but for now it doesn’t look like a severe weather setup.

The first of half next week looks dry with highs in the 60s.

ON THIS DATE IN 1975: The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on Nov. 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. She was located in deep water on Nov. 14, 1975, by a U.S. Navy aircraft detecting magnetic anomalies, and found soon afterwards to be in two large pieces.

ON THIS DATE IN 2002: The second-largest November tornado outbreak on record over the eastern United States occurred during the Veterans Day weekend of Nov. 9-11, 2002. Seventy-six tornadoes were reported in seventeen states. Of the 76 tornadoes, almost one out of every six was a killer, resulting in 36 fatalities.

In Alabama, eleven touched down, including two parallel long track F3 tornadoes. One of them hit Carbon Hill, and four were killed along the path. Another death came from an F2 tornado in Cherokee County. In the Birmingham metro, an F2 touched down at Bessemer. This is yet another reminder November is a big month for severe weather in Alabama. Our tornado season runs from November through May.

For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit the Alabama Weather Network.