Hot & Humid with a Few Showers As We Approach Midday; Tropics Getting Active

The View Out Of The Window At 11:00 am

As we have hit the 11 o’clock hour on this warm and muggy Monday morning, skies are mostly sunny across the area, but we already have had a few showers out there. At this point, we do have a few showers located near Bethlehem and Pinetucky in Perry County and over into the southwestern parts of Chilton County close to Parnell and just south of Maplesville. There are a few other showers but they are very small in nature with no lightning involved.

Temperatures were in the upper 80s to the lower 90s across the area. Jasper’s reporting station is trying to be funny saying that the temperature is 97 degrees, but I believe that it has had too much sun already for the day. Tuscaloosa was the hot spot at 92 degrees while the cool spots were the Shelby County Airport, Prattville, and Auburn at 88 degrees. Birmingham was sitting at 91 degrees.

Weather For The Rest Of Your Monday Across Central Alabama

Ridging continues to have its hold on our weather pattern which means we’ll continue to stay hot and humid with enough trapped moisture for the potential of scattered afternoon and early evening showers and thunderstorms. Clouds will build during the heating of the day and we’ll end up with partly cloudy skies. Afternoon highs look to top out in the mid-90s for the most part across the area with heat index values reaching the 100-105 degree range. A few isolated showers may linger into the evening and late-night hours, otherwise we’ll be dry with skies becoming mostly clear. It will be quite muggy as lows will be in the lower to mid-70s.

Nearly The Same Story For Tuesday’s Weather

That’s right… the “rinse and repeat” forecast can be used not only for Tuesday but for the rest of the week. A good bit of sunshine to start the day but clouds will begin to build with the heating of the day. There will be a decent chance of scattered mainly afternoon and early evening showers and storms across the area. It will remain hot and humid with highs reaching the lower to mid-90s across the area with heat indices in the 100-105 degree range during the afternoon.

The Tropics Are Starting To Get Active

It has been quiet for a little while in the tropics but activity is starting to pick up as we move into the latter part of July. At this point, none of these disturbances are a threat to the Alabama Gulf Coast, but higher tides and rip currents will be possible as the disturbance located over the Bahamas moves west-northwest over the Gulf of Mexico this week. Here are the details from the NHC:

1. Disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the Bahamas, central and eastern Cuba, and the adjacent Atlantic waters are associated with a tropical wave. This system is expected to move west-northwestward through the Straits of Florida today, over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday, across the central Gulf on Wednesday, and reach the northwestern Gulf on Thursday. Environmental conditions could become a little more conducive for development of this system once it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent.

2. Shower activity associated with a tropical wave located about 1000 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands has become a little better organized this morning. Environmental conditions are expected to be marginally conducive for development of this system during the next few days while it moves westward at 10 to 15 mph over the tropical Atlantic. By Friday and over the weekend, conditions are forecast to become less favorable for tropical cyclone formation.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent.

3. Surface observations indicate that a weak low-pressure area has formed over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. The associated shower and thunderstorm activity are currently disorganized, and little additional development is expected before the system moves inland over Texas tonight or Tuesday.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…10 percent.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Tropical