Weather Turning More Summer Like

Alabama remained just to the east of the trough axis along the Mississippi River this morning with a good coverage of clouds. The morning temperatures were around the 70-degree mark. The flash flood watch for much of the state has been cancelled, however, a watch still remains until Friday morning across extreme South Alabama and much of the Florida Panhandle. Flash flood watches also extend to the northeast along the eastern slope of the Appalachians. Highs today will be held to the middle 80s with showers and isolated thunderstorms a good possibility. By the way, the high at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport yesterday was only 76 degrees – amazing for the first day of August.

The upper trough along the Mississippi River will continue to meander for the next couple of days as it also slowly weakens. This weakening is the primary reasoning behind cancelling the flash flood watch since the likelihood of heavy rain has diminished more quickly than earlier expectations. Drier air across Northwest Alabama should keep much of the northwest quadrant free of showers until Saturday.

With the weakening of the upper trough, most of Alabama should return to summer like conditions with highs climbing to near 90 by Sunday. But moisture remains across the Southeast US, so there remains fairly good chances for scattered showers and storms through much of the week ahead.

From late Saturday through Tuesday the GFS has once again brought back the idea of connecting the Bermuda High with the upper ridge over the southern Rockies. This won’t change the moisture levels so chances for showers will remain, but temperatures should surge upward into the lower 90s.

But take heart! The GFS brings a fairly strong trough across the Great Lakes region next Tuesday and Wednesday which is forecast to dig the trough back into the eastern US once again. This will bring yet another front into the area keeping the weather unsettled with daily chances for showers and an abundance of clouds forcing the afternoon highs to drop to around 90 degrees.

Rainfall for the next five days will not be uniform due to the nature of showers, and amounts fall off to between a quarter of an inch over western Alabama to around an inch along the Georgia line.

Looking into voodoo country, the GFS builds an upper ridge across the Great Lakes region around the 14th of August, but it keeps an east-to-west area of lowered pressure across the Southeast US into Texas. This together with the continuation of plenty of moisture should keep daily showers likely for us. But by August 17th the GFS once again brings a digging trough into the eastern US keeping the duration of any excessive heat short-lived.

Tropics: All remains quiet across the Atlantic basin; tropical storm formation is not expected for the next several days.

Beach Forecast: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

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Thanks for tuning into the Weather Xtreme Video. The one-a-day schedule continues for the week as James enjoys some time off. The next Weather Xtreme Video should be posted here Friday by 7 am or so. Godspeed.

-Brian-

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