Strong To Severe Storms Arrive Thursday

THIS AFTERNOON: As expected, we have enjoyed a very nice warm-up across Alabama today. With a good supply of sunshine, temperatures are in the mid to upper 70s across most of North/Central Alabama. Tonight will be mostly fair and not as cool as recent nights; most places will not drop below the mid 50s early tomorrow.

HALLOWEEN: Mild and mostly dry weather continues. With a partly sunny sky, we should rise into the 75-78 degree range tomorrow afternoon… and we will just mention the chance of a few isolated showers over the western counties of the state during the afternoon and evening hours. For most, a comfortable evening for trick or treaters.

STORMY DAY THURSDAY: A rather potent weather system will bring the threat of strong to severe storms across Alabama on Thursday. Higher instability values will be over South Alabama, but the higher shear values should be found over the northern half of the state. The best combination of severe weather parameters is over the southern counties… SPC has the standard “slight risk” (level 2/5) of severe storms defined for areas south of a line from Eutaw to Jemison to Opelika. There is a “marginal risk” (level 1/5) for the northern counties of the state.

*The main window for strong to severe storms across Alabama will come from 5:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

*The primary threat will come from damaging thunderstorm winds, but a few isolated tornadoes can’t be ruled out, especially across South Alabama.

*Rain Thursday will be heavy at times, with amounts of 1 to 2 inches likely.

Keep an eye on the blog for forecast updates as we get closer to the event; we should also note that Thursday represents the beginning of the late fall severe weather season here (November and December).

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Rain will end early in the day Friday, otherwise it will be a cloudy and cool day with temperatures struggling to get out of the 50s along with a cool north breeze. Then, the weekend will feature a sunny sky Saturday and Sunday… we rise into the upper 60s Saturday, and low 70s Sunday. Saturday morning will be cold with lows down in the 38-42 degree range for most places. Colder pockets will see some frost.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: Great weather for the high school games across the state Friday night; look for a clearing sky with temperatures falling from the mid 50s at kickoff, into the 40s by the fourth quarter.

Auburn will host Texas A&M Saturday (11:00a CT kickoff) at Jordan-Hare Stadium… the sky will be sunny with temperatures rising from near 62 degrees at kickoff, into the mid 60s by the second half.

Alabama is on the road to take on LSU in Baton Rouge Saturday night (7:00p CT kickoff)… it will be a perfect night for football with a clear sky and temperatures falling through the 60s.

UAB will host UTSA at Legion Field in Birmingham Saturday evening (6:30 CT kickoff)… the sky will be clear with low 60s at kickoff, and mid 50s by the fourth quarter.

NEXT WEEK: The latest run of the American global model (the GFS) now brings moisture back into the state Monday, suggesting a change of showers, followed by an active day Tuesday with showers and strong thunderstorms. The latter half of the week looks cool and dry… see the Weather Xtreme video for maps, graphics, and more details.

TROPICS: Hurricane Oscar, in the Central Atlantic, is packing sustained winds of 100 mph… is moving northeast, and will remain far from land. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet.

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I enjoyed seeing the students today at Walnut Park Elementary in Gadsden and Ascension Leadership Academy in Talladega… be watching for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today a 5:00 and 6:00 on ABC 33/40 News! The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

Tags: ANC, mild

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Weather Xtreme Videos