Welcome To October!

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

GOLDEN DAYS OF FALL: I must admit I do consider October my favorite month of the year. These cool nights will really bring out the autumn colors within the next two weeks.

We will squeeze out one more nice day today with a sunny sky and a high in the upper 70s. To the west, SPC maintains a slight risk of severe weather in the general area from Houston to St. Louis; the prime risk will come from damaging straight line winds, but an isolated tornado or two is not out of the question. The main limiting factor will be the degree of instability, but the upper forcing is excellent with a strong, negative tilt upper trough. The storms should cross the Mississippi River at some point tonight.

TOMORROW: Still looks wet for a couple of hours tomorrow. Our main risk of showers and storms will come from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.; most of the rain should be over in time for high school football games tomorrow night. The NAM is printing 0.88″ of rain for Birmingham, while the GFS shows 0.59″. So, most likely we can expect one-half to one inch of rain. A strong storm will be possible, but major severe weather issues are not expected with very limited instability. There is no formal severe weather risk defined by SPC; just low end 5 percent probabilities over South Alabama.

NICE WEEKEND: Still on track for a nice weekend with mild afternoons and cool nights. Highs in the mid to upper 70s; lows in the 48 to 52 degree range with a good supply of sunshine both days.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: Both Alabama and Auburn are on the road this weekend, so here is an early look. For the Auburn/Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium Saturday evening (6:45 p.m. kickoff), the sky should be mostly fair with a kickoff temperature of 65 degrees, dropping into the 50s by the end of the game. Alabama plays Kentucky at Lexington (11:30 a.m. kickoff)… the sky will be mostly cloudy with a kickoff temperature near 58 degrees, then rising in the low 60s through the game. We should also note UAB has a home game tonight at Legion Field in Birmingham; they will host Southern Miss at 7:00 p.m. The weather will be dry and pleasant, although clouds will be increasing. The kickoff temperature will be near 73 degrees, falling into the upper 60s by the final whistle.

NEXT WEEK: We will bring in some risk of showers by Tuesday and Wednesday with increasing moisture levels, but it looks for now like the heaviest rain could up around the I-40 corridor (Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville).

TROPICS: Familiar story; all is quiet across the Atlantic basin, and tropical storm formation is not expected through the weekend. A very, very calm season.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left.

I am headed down to Tuscaloosa this morning for a weather program at University Place Elementary School… I will be back in the office by early afternoon, and the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 3:30. Enjoy the day!

Category: Uncategorized