A special edition of Wake Up with Al also sometimes aired on weekend mornings from 5–7 a.m. Eastern during significant weather events.

In addition, Abrams would begin co-hosting the program from the New York City studio for a three-month trial run, which would become permanent should it be successful.

By this point, Richard Lui anchored the weather news headlines segment from MSNBC out of the Wake Up with Al studio.

On November 12, 2012, as part of a massive programming revamp at The Weather Channel, Wake Up with Al was expanded to 90 minutes, running from 5:30–7 a.m.

On November 6, 2014, as part of another programming revamp, Wake Up with Al once again expanded its timeslot, this time to two hours, running from 5–7 a.m.

AMHQ would be extended to fill its former timeslot, while co-host Stephanie Abrams would move to Atlanta to continue her role on the program, displacing Sam Champion who now holds managing editor responsibilities at The Weather Channel, while Al Roker will continue to be involved with The Weather Channel as a contributor during breaking news events.