AM Sprinkles along with Clouds

Sometimes weather patterns get stuck and seem to remain in one pattern for a number of consecutive days. Chock our late May weather up to just that. But even though the overall pattern is not changing and hasn’t changed much this week, Alabama is waking up to cloudy skies along with some light echoes on radar. So look for clouds together with a few sprinkles this morning. Enough rain that you’ll probably need your windshield wipers a little, but rainfall amounts will be very light with rain gauges posting amounts less than a tenth of an inch only in scattered spots.

Clouds are likely to remain with us this afternoon, but because of the clouds, it looks likely that the afternoon high will be held down a good deal with highs mainly in the lower 80s. While I expect nearly all of us to stay dry, there is still the outside chance of an isolated shower this afternoon. If you find yourself headed to the Hoover Met for the SEC Baseball Tournament, be sure to take your sunscreen. Even though we’ll have cloudy skies, the ultraviolet radiation can still create a nasty sunburn. You can get your tickets by clicking right here.

Heading to the beach, the weather is going to be great. Expect mostly sunny days, fair nights through Memorial Day from Dauphin Island across Gulf Shores and east to Panama City Beach. Highs on the immediate coast will be in the lower 80s while inland locations will see upper 80s. Sea water temperature at Perdido Pass in Orange Beach was 80 degrees. Get your detailed beach forecast here.

While the weather pattern for Alabama is not showing much change, that is not the case for the Southwest Atlantic. Tropical depression Two formed late yesterday afternoon and is likely to cause some soaking rain along with strong breezes along the Southeast US coast especially for the Carolinas. There is a possibility that this depression will gain enough strength to be named. If it does, it will be Bonnie, the second named storm for the 2016 season which does not officially begin until June 1st!

Depression or tropical storm, it is not likely to have much effect on Alabama weather as we stay on the dry side of the system.

Looking at the model projections for Central Alabama, there is not much change all week for us until late in the week. It will continue to be warm with an upper ridge that weakens but stays in place keeping the main traveling weather systems well to our northwest. This means we should see highs in the lower 90s for much of the week ahead. The heat and moisture combination make it imperative that we mention the potential for isolated thunderstorms each day. But the chances remain low and most of us will remain dry.

But that pattern is expected to undergo a change late next week and into the weekend. By Thursday and Friday, a strong upper low will move across the western Great Lakes dragging an upper trough across the Southeast US as the upper ridge is pushed well out into the Atlantic. This pattern change will do two things for us. First, the chances for showers and thunderstorms should go up a good deal for Friday and Saturday. Second, the upper pattern shifts to a northwesterly flow as the trough moves by, so we should see a significant drop in our temperatures with the afternoon highs around 80 on Friday and Saturday.

Looking out into voodoo country, the GFS keeps the trough over the eastern US through Monday, June 6th, and then begins a gradual shift to an upper ridge by Thursday, June 9th. This means that we should see our highs return to the lower 90s with only limited chances for showers mainly during the heat of the afternoon. But the GFS suggests that by June 12th we may see another strong trough coming across the Central Plains that will bring us another break in the heat.

Thanks so much for remaining a blog viewer. I expect to have the next Weather Xtreme Video posted here by 8 am or so on Sunday. Enjoy the day whatever you plan to do. I’m hoping to see a little of the action at the SEC Baseball Tournament this afternoon. Godspeed.

-Brian-

Tags: ANC

Category: Alabama's Weather