Historic ocean liner departs for Mobile on voyage to become the world’s largest artificial reef

AND FRANCHISE OWNERS. ALL RIGHT, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FORECAST HERE. PLENTY TO TALK ABOUT, AT LEAST AS FAR AS THE WINTER WEATHER FEELS. YEAH, QUITE A DAY. YOU KNOW, WE HAD A DECENT SNOW UP IN NORTH ALABAMA THIS MORNING. HAD A FEW FLAKES AND SOME SLEET PELLETS AS FAR SOUTH AS I-20, BUT NO BIG DEAL IN BIRMINGHAM. BUT THE COLD, THAT IS A BIG DEAL. WE’VE GOT A COLD WEATHER ADVISORY THAT’S IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT, TOMORROW AND FRIDAY. EARLY MORNING FEELS LIKE TEMPERATURES, THE WIND CHILL THAT’S GOING TO BE CLOSE TO ZERO IN SOME AREAS, CLOSER TO TEN AND OTHERS. AND THIS IS AN ADVISORY FOR THE WHOLE STATE. ALL 67 ALABAMA COUNTIES. IT’S VERY UNUSUAL TO SEE ALL OF US UNDER THE SAME KIND OF ADVISORY, 40 TO 50 HOURS AT LEAST BELOW FREEZING BETWEEN NOW AND FRIDAY MIDDAY, WHEN WE FINALLY START TO RECOVER OUT OF THIS ARCTIC AIR. AND THIS IS PIPE FREEZING AND DANGER TO PETS AND PEOPLE KIND OF COLD BECAUSE IT’S PROLONGED AND WITH WIND CHILLS THAT LOW, IT IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A PROBLEM. LOOK AT THE WIND CHILL OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. FEELS LIKE 25 IN BIRMINGHAM BY 6 P.M. 18 IN CULLMAN, 22 IN ONEONTA, EVEN 31 AT SYLACAUGA AND THEN BY 6:00 IN THE MORNING, THE FEELS LIKE IS DOWN AROUND FIVE IN CULLMAN, NINE IN HAMILTON, 14 IN TUSCALOOSA, 13 AT BRENT, TEN AT SYLACAUGA AND AROUND 12 IN THE ANNISTON AREA. VERY COLD DAY. WE’RE NOT REALLY GOING TO WARM UP ALL THAT MUCH ON THURSDAY. AND THEN AS WE WORK INTO THURSDAY NIGHT, IT’S GOING TO BE JUST AS COLD, IF NOT A LITTLE COLDER. SO HERE’S THE SNAPSHOT FROM TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY TOMORROW MORNING IN THE 20S FEELS LIKE TEMPS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. TOMORROW AFTERNOON WE MAY BRIEFLY GET ABOVE FREEZING IN BIRMINGHAM, BUT IT WON’T BE THERE FOR LONG. SO LET’S FLASH FORWARD HERE INTO FRIDAY 6:00 IN THE MORNING IT’S DOWN TO 18 WITH THE WIND CHILL OF SIX IN CULLMAN, 21 WITH A WIND CHILL OF 12 IN GADSDEN AND THE FEELS LIKE IN BIRMINGHAM DOWN TO AROUND 11 BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON, THOUGH, WE ARE STARTING TO WARM UP A BIT. MAY EVEN CRACK THE LOW 40S, BUT IT IS STILL GOING TO BE AN UNUSUALLY COLD DAY. THE REASON FOR THE COLD IS BECAUSE OF ALL THE SNOW THAT’S ON THE GROUND FROM HERE NORTHWARD UP TO SOUTHERN CANADA. AS THIS ARCTIC HIGH HAS COME OVER, THAT IT’S HAD NO CHANCE TO MODERATE WHATSOEVER SO THAT NORTH WIND AROUND IT NOT ONLY BRINGS IN THE COLD WEATHER, BUT IT ALSO BLOCKS THE GULF OF MEXICO. AND ANY KIND OF RETURN FLOW WHATSOEVER THAT WOULD WARM US UP. BUT THAT’S A SHORT TERM PROBLEM. THROUGH THE WEEKEND, METEOROLOGIST TAYLOR SARALLO THINGS ARE GOING TO START WARMING UP BEYOND THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK. YES THEY ARE. WE’RE GOING TO EVENTUALLY FEEL BETTER. IT’S GOING TO BE A SLOW WARM UP FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. BUT AFTER THAT WE ARE SEEING SOME MUCH IMPROVED TEMPERATURES THROUGH EACH AFTERNOON. DID WANT TO POINT OUT BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON, AS JASON WAS TALKING ABOUT THE MORNING HOURS BEING JUST DOWNRIGHT FRIGID BY THE AFTERNOON, WE’RE IMPROVING A LITTLE BIT. WE WILL END UP IN THE LOW TO MID 40S DURING THE LATER PART OF THE DAY. THE WEEKEND WE ADD A FEW MORE DEGREES. NOW WE STILL START VERY COLD. SATURDAY WE’RE GOING TO BE BELOW THE FREEZING MARK, BUT BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS I’M EXPECTING THOSE HIGHS TO REACH INTO THE LOW 50S. THAT’S CLOSER TO WHERE WE WOULD EXPECT TO BE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR, AND WE WILL HAVE A MAINLY CLEAR SKIES. SO A GOOD DAY TO BE OUTDOORS. YOU WILL PROBABLY WANT AN EXTRA LAYER THOUGH. SUNDAY WE SEE THE RETURN OF A FEW SPRINKLES, MAINLY LATE SUNDAY LASTING INTO EARLY ON MONDAY. HERE’S A LOOK TOWARDS SUNDAY AT NOON. CLOUDS ARE BUILDING IN TEMPERATURES AT THAT POINT. LOW 50S. WE WILL EVENTUALLY CLIMB INTO THE MID 50S BEFORE A FEW SPRINKLES ARRIVE LATE SUNDAY INTO EARLY ON MONDAY. OVERALL COVERAGE OF THOSE VERY VERY MINIMAL. SO REALLY NOT BRINGING TOO MUCH IN THE WAY OF IMPACT FROM THE WET WEATHER. BUT LOOKING AHEAD TOWARDS NEXT WEEK, THAT’S WHEN THINGS REALLY START TO LOOK BETTER AROUND HERE. OUR TEMPERATURES WILL EVENTUALLY CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 60S, CLOSE TO 70 DEGREES ON WEDNESDAY. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THERE ARE MANY LOCATIONS THAT DO TOUCH THE 70, SO BACK ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. UPPER 60S, LOW 70S ALL ACROSS THE AREA. AND AT THIS POINT, IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GOING TO BE A DRY DAY AS WELL. SO LOOKING AT OUR SEVEN DAY FORECAST, WE DO GOT TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE COLD FOR TOMORROW AND ON FRIDAY. BUT AFTER THAT WE WILL SEE AN IMPROVEMENT SLOWLY THROUGH THE WEEKEND, FOLLOWED BY FEELING MORE LIKE