Midday Nowcast: Scattered to Numerous Showers Out There Today

At this hour, skies across Central Alabama are mostly cloudy to cloudy over the much of the area, with the extreme southern parts of the area with mostly clear skies. We have shower activity pushing into the state from Mississippi, giving some communities some much needed rainfall.

On the radar, we see showers in the northwestern part of the state, especially in Northern Marion, Southern Franklin, and Southern Lawrence counties. These are moving to the east at about 20 MPH. Another area of showers are located in Southern Bibb County, stretching back to the west through extreme Southern Tuscaloosa County, Northern Greene and Hale counties, and through Southern Sumter and Northern Choctaw Counties back into Mississippi. Otherwise, there are a few smaller scattered showers located throughout the area.

We could definitely use what rain will fall, as much of the northern-half of the state is consistent with some level of drought condition.

TEMPERATURES AT THIS HOUR: Cloud cover over most of the area is holding back temperatures for where they would normally be at this hour. Here is a list of temperature observations from across the area:

Birmingham 82
Tuscaloosa 83
Gadsden 82
Anniston 82
Cullman 79
Hamilton 79
Clanton 85
Alexander City 85
Montgomery 89

WHAT TO EXPECT FOR TODAY: Expect partly to mostly cloudy skies over the area with an increased chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Not everyone will get rain today, but the odds for any one spot getting rain will be about 50/50. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 80s to just over 90 for most spots in Central Alabama. Even though high temperatures will be down a little, the higher dew points will not make it feel any cooler. Overnight lows will be in the 70s.

CODE GREEN AIR QUALITY: The Air Quality Index for the Birmingham Metropolitan Area will be in the “Code Green” for ozone and particulate matter 2.5. No actions needed for today.

TODAY’S CLIMATOLOGY FOR BIRMINGHAM: The normal high for July 28th is 91, while the normal low is 70. The record high for today was set back in 1952 at 105. The record low was set back in 1911 at 60.

FRIDAY’S OUTLOOK: Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy across Central Alabama, and with a weakness in the upper ridge across the deep south, we’ll have a better chance of showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 80s to just above 90 degrees. Not everyone will get rainfall, but the odds of any one spot getting rainfall will be around 50/50.

HEADED TO THE BEACH: Look for 7 to 9 hours of sunshine daily on the coast from Panama City Beach over to Dauphin Island through the weekend with the usual risk of a passing storm from time to time. Highs on the immediate coast 87 to 90 with low to mid 90s inland. See a very detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

THE TROPICS: The Tropical Atlantic remains quiet with just the one one area of disturbed weather way out in the Atlantic south of the Cape Verde Islands. The GFS is not doing much with that system.

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