Weather chilly, troopers out in force New Year’s Eve

Dec. 28—Decatur will close out the year with temperatures above normal but there is a chance of storms, hail and tornadoes Saturday into Sunday and some rain New Year’s Day with colder temperatures beyond that, a forecaster said Friday.

Meanwhile, state troopers will be out in force on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, in part to look for intoxicated drivers, a trooper said.

Huntir Cramer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Huntsville, said north Alabama should see highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 30s for the end of December.

“We will be closing out the year with both highs and lows 10 to 15 degrees above normal,” she said. “We will be back to more normal temperatures with the start of the new year.”

From Saturday afternoon into early Sunday morning, Decatur is at a 40% risk level for severe weather, Cramer said.

“Threats include damaging wind gusts, a tornado or two, flooding and hail,” she said.

“We have low confidence in those threats, but the specific timing right now will be between 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday for the highest chance of severe potential,” Cramer said. “There will be multiple rounds of storms, so check back for updates and stay weather aware.”

The weather service recommends people have multiple sources to warn them, including during sleep, in case of dangerous weather. For example, they might have weather alerts by cellphone and a weather radio, she said.

“Do not rely on outdoor sirens,” Cramer said. “Those are for outdoor use, so unless you are outdoors, you are not going to hear them.”

After the showers and storms clear out Sunday, north Alabama will see temporarily dry conditions settling in with highs in the middle 60s and a low Sunday night in the middle 40s, she said.

It should stay dry through Monday afternoon but there is a 20% to 40% chance (low to medium chance) of showers Monday night into Tuesday morning, she said.

“No thunderstorms are forecast, just showers,” Cramer said. — New Year’s Eve

Tuesday night into Wednesday morning you can expect lows on New Year’s Eve in the middle to upper 30s, chilly but not freezing, and it should be dry again New Year’s Day, she said.

“The next time it will be below freezing will be the night of New Year’s Day into Jan. 2,” Cramer said. “We are forecasting lows in upper 20s to lower 30s and that will remain through (next) Saturday. We will have highs in the 40s or 50s New Year’s Day in Decatur.”

She said the highs Thursday and Friday will be in the middle 40s. — Troopers

If you plan to party New Year’s Eve and use alcoholic beverages, you’ll need a designated driver or taxi service when you are finished.

Senior State Trooper Brandon Bailey said troopers will be out in force on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day.

“We will be out doing saturations and driver’s license checkpoints,” Bailey said. “Saturations are when we focus in on a particular area where we see a lot of crashes and areas we know are going to be heavily driven; we will focus on those areas.”

He said the driver’s license checkpoints will likely be the spots where they might see intoxicated drivers. He cautioned motorists to remain alert amid holiday traffic, which could be heavy.

— jean.cole@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2361

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