Twin States Weather Blog

Fun Pattern Unfolding...

* A large mass of rain and thunderstorms swept quickly across Mississippi and Alabama this morning. There are still some scattered showers occurring underneath a cold core low moving overhead. The reason? The air aloft is very cold, which creates some atmospheric instability. Air near the surface is warmer and more buoyant than the air above it. So that air wants to rise, and it does. Rising air leads to condensation, forming clouds. This process continues until we see those familiar areas of green and yellow on the radar - rain. These cold core lows can provide all kinds of fun when its cold enough for something other than rain. That's not the case today.

* But it could be in the near future. As we've been discussing for a few weeks, a pattern change is coming soon. It appears that change will be upon us soon. Cold air will slam into the South this weekend. Highs Saturday could stay in the 40's all day. Certainly a far cry from our warm January.

* This pattern is one that also lends itself to major storm systems. If we manage to get one of these systems to form in the right place, and have some cold air in place, things could get very interesting for our winter weather fans. Valentine's Day may be a day for romantics and snow fans alike.

posted by WTOK Weather Staff @ 12:37 PM