Mix Of Sun And Storms Through Mid-Week

RADAR CHECK: The most active showers and storms are generally east of I-59 this afternoon; nothing severe, but the heavier storms are producing gusty winds, heavy rain, and lots of lighting. The storms will fade tonight. Temperatures are only in the 70s where it has been raining, but away from the showers we are seeing upper 80s and a few low 90s.

REST OF THE WEEK: A maritime tropical airmass will remain parked over Alabama, and we will roll with a fairly typical summer forecast tomorrow through Friday. Each day we will see a mix of sun and clouds along with the chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, most active during the afternoon and evening hours. Daily highs will be pretty close to 90 degrees. Impossible to forecast the exact placement and timing of the storms each day; they will pretty random.

THE WEEKEND: The latest GFS run suggests the air will be a little drier over the northern half of the state Saturday; if that verifies the best chance of showers will be over the southern counties of Alabama as the weekend begins. Scattered showers and storms are possible statewide Sunday, especially from 2 until 9 p.m. Highs for the weekend should stay close to 90 degrees; the sky partly sunny both days.

SOLAR ECLIPSE WEATHER: One week from today (August 21) all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights – a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun’s tenuous atmosphere – the corona – can be seen, will stretch from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path here in Alabama will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun’s disk.

The coverage will be 93 percent in Birmingham, and 97 percent in Huntsville. It begins arounds 12:00 noon, peaks at 1:32, and ends at 2:58. The big question involves the weather. At this point, it looks like a routine summer day here in our state, meaning a decent chance you will be able to see the eclipse. There will be a scattered field of cumulus clouds, and a few scattered showers are possible, but nothing at this point to suggest a widespread overcast.

RAIN UPDATE: Rain totals for the year so far (and departure from average)…
Montgomery 56.94″ (+22.49″)
Mobile 55.71″ (+12.28″)
Birmingham 51.34″ (+16.44″)
Tuscaloosa 45.95″ (+11.88″)
Anniston 41.36″ (+8.25″)
Huntsville 38.46″ (+4.17″)

TROPICS: Gert, a tropical storm in the Atlantic well east of Jacksonville, Florida, is expected to become a hurricane over the next 18 hours. It will move between the East Coast of the U.S. and Bermuda, and is no threat to land. It will become post-tropical over the North Atlantic later this week.

Invest 91L in the eastern Atlantic has a good chance of becoming Tropical Storm Harvey later this week; it remains to be seen if this will recurve into the open Atlantic like Gert, or take a more southerly track and become a threat to parts of the U.S. coast. Just something to watch for now.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page. The Beach Forecast is partially underwritten by the support of Brett/Robinson Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Click here to see Brett/Robinson’s Own Your Summer specials now!

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Tags: ANC, showers

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