textproduct: Huntsville

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 946 PM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

- A slight warming trend early this week, before light rain chances return Wednesday. - Much colder air will push southeast into the area during the evening hours on Wednesday, possibly producing a brief window of a rain/snow mix. No societal impacts are anticipated.

- Periodic rounds of much colder air are expected to continue into next weekend.

NEAR TERM

(Today) Issued at 212 AM CST Tue Jan 13 2026

Mostly clear skies and nearly calm winds have allowed temperatures to drop to the mid 20s to lower 30s early this morning. Expect this to be the case into the morning commute hours, so be sure to bundle up if headed outdoors early this morning! With high pressure remaining the dominating factor in weather locally today, no major changes were made to the near term forecast.

Previous discussion: High pressure will remain in place today keeping conditions dry. Southwesterly winds however will be breezy with gusts up to 15kts due to a tightening pressure gradient from a passing shortwave. Those SW winds along with mostly sunny skies will help temps warm up nicely into the upper 50s.

SHORT TERM

(Tuesday night through Thursday) Issued at 946 PM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Tuesday night, we will finally have lows higher than freezing, reaching the upper 30s to lower 40s. This is due to the increase in cloud cover through the night ahead of our next system. A trough up in the Great Lakes will pull an associated cold front down into the OH Valley and Mid MS Valley Tuesday night and into the TN Valley on Wednesday.

Ahead of the cold front, we will see showers quickly move in here Wednesday morning. Those medium to high chances (50-70%) will slide through from west to east through the afternoon and be accompanied by gusty winds, sustained ~10kts and gusting up to 15kts ahead of the front. Winds will actually increase Wed evening and night, gusting up to 25 kts from the NW behind the front. Models are continuing to bring in the front faster, and therefore pushing the precip out earlier too, in the evening hours. Cold air will dive into the region behind the front and any lingering precip would result in a brief a few flurries or light rain/snow mix around midnight. We continue to not expected any impacts with this as only a Trace to a light dusting on grassy surfaces is expected, and mainly for those in elevated locations. For the roadways, the brief window and light nature of the precipitation, still fairly warm ground temperatures, and breezy winds (which will help to dry off roads), should mitigate any travel concerns. Beyond this, the rest of Wed night will be dry and breezy with those northwesterly winds creating wind chills in the teens.

This cold front will pack a punch as Thursday will be bitterly cold with highs only reaching the 30s. On top of that, gusty winds will still be present making it feel even colder. Ensure everyone is bundled up in layers and don't forget to keep outdoor pets warm.

LONG TERM

(Thursday night through Monday) Issued at 946 PM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

A large area of high pressure moves east across the southeastern CONUS Thursday night into Friday. With calm winds and clear skies, this should be our coldest night later this week. Actual temperatures should fall into the upper teens to lower 20s. Winds should pick up just bit towards daybreak, but mainly remain around 5 mph or less. During this timeframe, a surface low develops over southeast Canada along with an associated cold front that stretches southwest from the surface low.

As the surface low pushes southeast Thursday night/Friday into the central Great Lakes region, it pushes a surface front southeast ahead of it via NW flow. Through Friday, all guidance keeps deeper moisture well north of Tennessee. Expect cloud cover to increase during the day on Friday, especially north of the Tennessee River. However, the moisture column looks to dry for any precipitation near the boundary layer. The cloud cover should help keep us tad cooler than otherwise, but warm air advection ahead of the front and some morning sunshine will allow temperatures to climb into the mid to upper 40s.

Friday night, it looks like the front may be pushing further southeast and into NW Alabama and south central Tennessee. Overall, we will still be in a warm air advection pattern early in the evening, before the front pushes through overnight. Models are fairly divergent concerning whether we see a pre-frontal trough axis or the main cold front moving through overnight. The main difference would be slightly warmer temperatures around daybreak if only a pre-frontal trough axis moves south overnight. Kept with NBM (25 to 30 degrees), which is likely on the colder side, but this may need to be revised up with time.

With most guidance the colder air definitely is ushered southeast into the area during the day on Saturday. behind the initial front or pre-frontal trough axis (whichever ends up being correct). Strong cold air advection continues through the day, as another re-enforcing cold front rotates southeast around the main parent low still over the Great Lakes region during the afternoon hours into northern Alabama. This will likely allow for cloud cover initially on the decrease to become widespread again over northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee as the day progresses. Between the cold air advection and cloud cover, temperatures will be hard pressed to climb out of the lower 40s at best. Given the fairly widespread cloud cover, not sure if models are handling how cold the afternoon highs will be. Some models bring some light snow showers close to our southern middle Tennessee counties Saturday evening, but most keep it east or southeast of the area.

The bigger story will likely be another shot of arctic air that will pushes southeast Saturday evening, as an area of strong high pressure drops southward from central Canada. This will produce a another period of very cold weather with temperatures dropping into the upper teens to around 20 degrees by Sunday morning. Despite abundant sunshine on Sunday in most areas, highs look to only climb into the 30s at best. This may be a bit optimistic in southern middle Tennessee, which might see some cloud cover in the morning. Sunday night with high pressure building over the area should be even colder. Winds should be fairly light and with clear skies lows will drop into the 15 to 20 degree range in most locations (maybe a tad cooler).

During the day on Monday, the northwest flow aloft becomes much less amplified. However, northwest flow will still be in place. However, with abundant sunshine, temperatures should climb into the upper 30s to lower 40s despite the cold start.

AVIATION

(12Z TAFS) Issued at 534 AM CST Tue Jan 13 2026

VFR conditions are forecast at both terminals with light SW winds this morning and increasing SW flow through the day. Afternoon winds will gust up to 17-20kts at times, especially for KMSL.

HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

AL...None. TN...None.