Another freeze coming? Forecasters warn it’s possible

You haven’t planted your spring flowers yet, have you?

Forecasters are warning that the last freeze of the season may still be to come.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said there might be another round of freezing temperatures for Alabama coming next week.

Forecasters there said there was a moderate risk for “much below normal temperatures” for the northern half of the state, and a slight risk for the rest. The time frame is March 19-25, or beginning a week from today.

The National Weather Service’s forecasts only go out seven days, but the temperature forecast for next Monday, March 18, is putting high temperatures in the 50s for the northern part of the state:

Temperatures could cool back off early next week after a series of weather systems passes through. Above is the forecast for Monday, March 18.NWS

The weather service is expecting a series of system to bring rain and possibly storms to the state starting in earnest on Friday, and rain could last on and off through the weekend.

The long-range forecast has colder air to moving in early next week.

The six- to 10-day temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center (shown at the top of this post), seems to agree on that playing out — and the possibility of colder temperatures lasting well into next week.

The CPC’s eight- to 14-day temperature outlook also leans toward colder-than-average temperatures for Alabama:

8-14 day temp outlook

Below-average temperatures are favored for Alabama through March 26 in this outlook.CPC

Spring freezes are not unheard of. In fact, one of Alabama’s biggest snowstorms happened on March 13 (in 1993).

But don’t take these chilly forecasts to the bank just yet. The CPC also predicted in early March that the month had a decent probability of above-average temperatures.