Expect a lot of rain today and again through the weekend as cold fronts pass through the area giving relief to mild drought conditions.
Showers and possibly a thunderstorm are expected before 10 a.m. today, followed by rain between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall.
The temperature will fall to around 41 by 5 p.m. South wind will be 10 to 15 miles per hour, becoming north/northwest in the afternoon.
Winds could gust as high as 25 miles per hour at times.
“We’re still in a slight drought, but if we get a good, slow rain, which can be irritating to drive in or go out, it will be a big help to us,” said Cullman County Emergency Management Agency Director Phyllis Little.
“The coldest night we can expect in the seven-day forecast is (Wednesday night) when it reaches about 28.
“We may have a few small thunderstorms, but there is nothing in the forecast for severe weather through the weekend.” The highs through Friday are expected in the 50s and 60 on Sunday.
The chance of rain remains high for the weekend through Sunday night.
David Palmer may be contacted at 256-734-2131, ext.

With below average rainfall expected for the next three months, Santa Barbara County remains in a severe drought, the Santa Barbara City Council announced during its Water Supply Management Report meeting on Jan. 30.
Due to the most recent rain event on Jan. 9, the reservoir received 500 acre-feet of inflow.
According to Kelley Dyer, water supply manager for the City of Santa Barbara, the inflow to the reservoir can be treated, but it takes about three weeks for the sediment, including ash and mud, to settle out, so the county has been pulling from other sources.
The impact of the Thomas, Whittier and Rey Fires on water quality and supply of the Cachuma, Gibraltar, and State water supply “will last for years,” Dyer said.
The report showed the impact of rainfall from Sep. 1, 2017, to Jan. 29, 2018 in Santa Barbara, as well as the county’s two main sources for water supply.
From Dec. 10, 2016, to Jan. 23, 2017, the impact of of rainfall was much higher in Santa Barbara County and its sources of water.
The Gibraltar Reservoir received 133 percent of the expected amount of rainfall, and the Cachuma Reservoir received 147 percent of normal rainfall.
Santa Barbara County received 163 percent of typical rainfall for that time of year.
Dyer explained that when the Cachuma Reservoir stops spilling is when it is clear that Santa Barbara County is entering a drought.
She said that the last time Cachuma spilled was in 2011.

Klamath County commissioners are holding off on making a drought declaration in order to ensure their timing is appropriate to help irrigators this summer.
Though commissioners were expected to make the declaration Tuesday, Commissioner Donnie Boyd asked to have the issue removed from the agenda to be considered at a later date.
Boyd said he understands emergency policies regarding stock water may only last six months from the declaration of a drought, so he wanted to take time to ensure commissioners would not be taking action too early.
“I think we need to study the timing and be absolutely correct with our timing,” he said.
Commissioners began discussing a possible drought declaration last week in light of unseasonably warm and dry weather this winter.
Commissioners said they are hopeful for rain and snow sometime during February or March, but if conditions do not change they said irrigating restrictions could be as severe as in 2001.
A declaration of a drought by commissioners would be forwarded to the state Drought Readiness Council then the governor’s office for approval.
Once approved, the county would have access to special resources from the state and federal government.
As the county prepared for drought conditions, the Oregon Water Resources Department has begun meeting with irrigators in the Upper Klamath Basin to discuss how it plans to enforce water rights this year.
The first meeting was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night at the Crater Lake Resort on Highway 62, while future meetings are scheduled for Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Chiloquin Community Center and Friday at 10 a.m. at Sprague River Community Center.

When Colorado enjoys above-average mountain snowpack, the map of alpine basins provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service is bathed in soothing colors like blue, green and purple.
Of the eight main watersheds measured by NRCS, only the Upper Rio Grande (at 33 percent of normal) is currently drier than here in the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river drainages, where mountain snowpack remains a meager 35 percent of normal.
In year-to-date precipitation, though, the Four Corners region is Colorado’s most parched, having welcomed only 29 percent of normal rain and snow compared to 64 percent statewide.
According to the Department of Agriculture’s drought monitor, the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan watersheds officially moved from “moderate drought” to “severe drought” on Jan. 2.
NRCS puts in writing what skiers and snowboarders might have guessed: “The majority of storm events reaching the state have skirted the southwest basins almost entirely.” It’s too early for meteorologists to determine how hazardous the 2018 forest fire season might be.
If there’s any good news in the latest NRCS report, it’s that Colorado reservoirs remain full.
All state watersheds currently boast above-average storage volumes, with the combined San Miguel, Dolores, Animas, and San Juan basins checking in at 104 percent of average.
Meanwhile, Colorado Ski Country USA, which represents 23 resorts, recorded 13 percent fewer visits at its member operations from the beginning of ski season through Dec. 31.
“Our agreement with the water district allows us to make snow until Feb. 23,” Telski CEO Bill Jensen said.
“I consider 2017-18 an anomaly that should only happen every 20 years,” Jensen added.

News In a seemingly short reprieve, California, along with all of San Diego County, is once again in a drought.
In a report by the United States Drought Monitor, 44% of California is now in a drought, that figure up 12% from last week.
A few weeks ago, the monitor warned the state was currently in the “abnormally dry” category, but has since been elevated to a “moderate drought” category.
The drought has been said to have been a major factor in the wildfires that ravaged California in December.
So far, this winter season has brought little rain with it to Southern California.
Jodi Kodesh, a meteorologist for NBC 7 news, said “It’s not good news for our area, but it’s nothing too surprising.
This has been a record year for us.” San Diego has received less than half of the normal amount of rainfall this season so far.
Temperatures during the last three months have been well above average for much of the Southwest, including California, and this has increased evaporative demand which tends to dry out vegetation, soils, and water resources faster than under normal temperature conditions.” February is the peak season for snow accumulation in California, and officials from the Department of Water Resources met at Echo Summit to test levels of snowpack on the mountain.
We’re at 30 percent snowpack right now, and last year at this time we were at 182 percent.” Most of California’s rain and snow falls between November 1st and March 31st, and with current forecasts, meteorologists don’t see much hope on the horizon for the big storms we need to fill our reservoirs.
The next two weeks alone are forecasted to be uncharacteristically hot days with almost no chance for rain or snow.

Marsabit County is set to experience an extended drought period for the next three months, county National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) boss Golicha Guyo has said.
In an interview with the Nation, Mr Guyo said the county team has begun an assessment process that is also ongoing in 23 other hazard counties in the country.
Mr Guyo pointed out that the assessment will aid NDMA in proper planning since the drought has already hit.
Most water pans collected little water and are drying up already,” said Mr Guyo.
“Moyale had received more rain compared to other sub-counties but the resources available have been used up since our neighbours also came into the region earlier,” added Mr Guyo.
“We have already come up with committees that will meet every week and we will come up with Marsabit County Drought Response Plan immediately we have gathered all necessary info,” he said.
The NDMA boss also urged pastoralists to sell off some of their livestock and be left with a manageable number before the drought hits.
Herders should sell them instead of disposing them at throw away prices when the drought hits and losing them to the drought,” said Mr Guyo.
Representatives of all non-governmental organisations and Kenya Food Security Steering Group were present at the meeting.
The report noted that 83 per cent of these children are from 23 arid and semi-arid counties in the country.

The lines are a foretaste of what looks set to become a much bigger problem for the city unless rain falls.
On Monday, city officials pushed back “Day Zero” – the day taps could run dry – by a month to May 11 from April 16, as farmers in the water intensive agriculture sector cut back consumption amid tight restrictions.
Last week, dam levels in Western Cape province fell to 24.5 percent from 25.3 percent the previous week and from nearly 38 percent a year ago.
“I think there is going to be chaos,” said Saleigh van der Schyff, as he inched forward in a long queue where people lined up to collect water from a natural spring in the Newlands suburb.
“I hope Day Zero never comes, but I can see with people wanting to come here and the desperation for water, we are soon going to realize that water is more valuable than oil,” he said at 11 pm local time on Monday as a steady stream of people continued to arrive at the spring to fill their containers.
Cape Town city authorities have previously tested out a water collection site at a soccer field, saying it plans to roll out an estimated 200 such water points across the city.
Authorities say each person will be allocated 25 litres of water per day, and have been urging residents of the city to “save water or queue for water” in the run-up to Day Zero.
“I am extremely worried because of all the negative things that could happen,” said Sharon O‘Connor, a 63-year-old financial assistant as she waited her turn.
Close to the brewery spring at Newlands, city officials stepped in after an altercation to access another spring in the area turned violent.
Worried about diseases spreading, the city has warned residents about drinking water from unsafe sources across the city.

Cape Town drought: ‘Day Zero’ projection pushed back to 11 May The “catastrophic” day when taps in Cape Town are switched off because of a shortage of water has been moved 25 days later, to 11 May.
It was previously set at 21, 12 and 16 April.
The decision is based on projections of a sharp drop in agricultural use in March and April.
Day Zero is the day when the aggregate level on reservoirs (known locally as “dams”) drops to 13.5 per cent.
At present it stands at 25.5 per cent, a drop of 0.8 per cent in the past week.
But the city said that many agricultural users in the Western Cape Supply System have used up the water allocated to them, and therefore consumption is likely to fall sharply.
At present agriculture uses about 30 per cent of the water supply; the proportion is expected to drop to 15 per cent in March and 10 per cent in April.
“All preparations for the possibility of reaching Day Zero continue in earnest.” If and when Day Zero arrives, most taps will be shut off so that the last available water can be conserved for essential uses.
Residents will need to queue at 200 standpipes to fill containers.
The city authorities say the need to collect water “will be a massive inconvenience for Capetonians”, and warn: “The impact of Day Zero on the economy of Cape Town will be catastrophic.” The Foreign Office is warning British travellers: “If you’re planning to travel to the area, you should be mindful of water consumption and comply with local restrictions.” Reuse content

Windhoek-Southern Africa is still battling to recover from the 2015/16/ El Niño-induced drought, which by last year had affected about 41 million people across the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
The substantial government and SADC-led response, supported by about N$108 billion from the international humanitarian community, empowered farmers to take advantage of a better 2017 rainfall season, delivering an April 2017 cereal harvest three percent above the 5-year average.
Most Southern Africans rely on rain-fed subsistence farming, which is vulnerable to even the slightest shock, attested to by high levels of child malnutrition.
Namibia has also been exposed to hepatitis and cholera outbreaks recently.
The population of SADC has doubled since 1990 to about 333 million people.
Over the past six years the region has recorded economic growth of around 4.4 percent, which is far below the SADC growth target.
The region remains the global epicenter of the HIV epidemic with eight countries having a prevalence above 10 percent.
Malnutrition remains high in the region, with 13 of the 15 countries reporting stunting prevalence above 20 percent, and seven countries reporting stunting prevalence above 30 percent.
Similarly, prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) is >5 percent in eight of 15 countries in the region, with the highest reported national prevalence in Madagascar at 8.6 per cent (13.9 per cent at district level).
Prevalence of acute malnutrition and admissions are expected to increase in the region as a result of the lean season from October through March and partners are preparing contingency plans including nutrition response activities for the upcoming lean season.

The drought in Cape Town is getting so bad that its residents have been restricted to just 50 liters (13 gallons) of water per person per day.
What Cape Town needs now is relief in the form of rain—lots of it.
These solutions may help overcome immediate crisis, but in the process could exacerbate the problem by strengthening dependence on increasing water supplies.
When Cape Town is ready to make longer-term changes, one place it can look to for solutions is Melbourne, says Anne Van Loon, a hydrologist at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
Better still, even after the drought ended, Melburnians’ use of water has not bounced back.
Average daily consumption of water by a Melbourne resident ’01’02’03’04’05’06’07’08’09’10’11’12’13’14’15’16050100150200250300 liters050100150200250 Data: Water Outlook for Melbourne 2016 In 2010, Melbourne’s per-capita water consumption was 152 liters per day, and it’s only increased slightly since, to 166 liters per day in 2016.
This isn’t necessarily a case of an especially water-frivolous city cutting back; Cape Town’s pre-drought per-capita water usage was 225 liters per day in 2009 (pdf), similar to Melbourne’s numbers in the early 2000s.
That shows there’s definitely scope to reduce consumption in Cape Town.
Not all of these solutions will be applicable to Cape Town, which is much poorer than Melbourne, or to the next city that finds itself facing a water crisis.
“The Millennium Drought brought about profound changes in Australians’ conception of the environment, climate change, and water,” a 2014 study concluded.