A Quiet Weather Pattern For North/Central Alabama

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Be sure and watch the Weather Xtreme video this afternoon for all of the graphics and additional details that go along with this discussion…..

GETTING TIRED OF GUS: News from the Gulf Coast is generally very positive this afternoon… the levees/flood walls performed flawlessly in New Orleans, and there has been no widespread structural damage or loss of life in the city. The big problems are down around Grand Isle… there are reports of some missing people and major flooding, which is to be expected considering how the storm made landfall and the position of Grand Isle.

No reports of any injuries in Mississippi and Alabama.

I would suggest the greatest risk during the next 6 hours from Gustav will be from tornadoes in the spiral bands east of the center (including Southwest Alabama and South Mississippi), and inland flooding as the system slows down over West Louisiana. The heaviest rain from Gustav will remain over Louisiana, Northeast Texas, Arkansas, Southwest Mississippi, and Missouri in coming days.

THE ALABAMA WEATHER STORY: For the northern half of Alabama, our weather will be very quiet through the weekend. The moisture from Gustav will remain to the west, and Hanna will stay to the east. Not much in the way of rain other than a few isolated showers that might pop up from time to time. The daily high will be close to 90 degrees Thursday, Friday, and over the weekend. The weather looks fine for high school football games later this week. Nice and quiet.

HANNA: Upgraded to a minimal hurricane earlier today, this one is expected to make landfall Friday over the southern tip of South Carolina, somewhere between Savannah and Charleston. Most likely, it won’t be a major hurricane, but it will bring the threat of some flooding, and isolated tornadoes to the right of the landfall location. After moving inland, Hanna will move quickly to the northeast part of the U.S. as it gets hung up in the mid-latitude westerlies. Looks like a windy and wet Saturday for places like New York City and Boston.

IKE? Tropical depression 9 is expected to become Tropical Storm Ike sooner than later. NHC projects this one to be north of the Leeward Islands by the weekend as a hurricane; from there it will have the option of moving into the Gulf of Mexico (through the Florida Straights), impacting the South Atlantic Coast of the U.S., or recurve into the open Atlantic. I get the idea this might be an Atlantic Coast threat, but nobody knows at this point.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We recorded a new episode this morning; it is available in the player on the left sidebar of the blog. We talked with Brian Peters from the Alabama Coast; he was in the Storm Chaser at the time with tropical storm force winds blowing away.

TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.

A special thanks to our crew on the Alabama Gulf Coast for their work during the last 36 hours, including our own Brian Peters. You can hear more about his adventure down there on WeatherBrains (and yes, he did drop his new iPhone in the water!). And, again thanks to Bill Murray and J.B. for their tireless work here on the blog in recent days. I will have the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow… and we will keep the updates coming as the tropics continue to bloom. Stay tuned…

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