Rain Just To The West

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.

RIGHT NOW: Widespread rain and thunderstorms is the story over much of Mississippi and Arkansas this afternoon; flash flood watches cover this region, and a tornado watch is in effect for much of Central Louisiana through 7:00 p.m. Alabama is generally dry; just a few showers are showing up over the southwest part of the state.

It looks like our main window for showers and storms will come from about 9:00 tonight through 6:00 tomorrow evening. We still project 1 to 2 inches of rain around here, and very little change of organized severe weather with little if any surface based instability and weakening wind fields.

THE WEEKEND: Sure looks like the clouds will linger most of the day Saturday, with a cool north breeze and temperatures in the 50s all day. Not as cold as last Saturday, but still rather blustery. The sky clears Saturday night, and Sunday will be a sunny day with a high around 70.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: There is a chance that most high school games tonight can be played before the rain gets here, although the extreme western part of the state may not be dry through the entire game. Mild temperatures. For Friday night games, it now appears that most of the rain will have ended or tapered off, but fields will be wet. On Saturday, UAB will be in Huntington, West Virginia to play Marshall at 11:00 a.m. A good chance of showers with a peak temperature of 62. Tennessee at Alabama at 2:30 p.m., expect gradual clearing during the game with a kickoff temperature around 60, falling into the mid to upper 50s at the final whistle. Auburn will be at LSU for a 6:30 p.m. kick off. Clear and cool. 63 at kick off and falling into the 50s during the second half.

NEXT WEEK: An upper trough could bring a shower or two Monday night, but the moisture will be very limited, so rain amounts should be light and spotty. Tuesday and Wednesday look dry and mild at this time. There is a good chance we will have a significant rain event toward the end of the week, but due to model madness we don’t know if the rain will come on Thursday, Friday, or both days. We have seen runs with some risk of heavy rain and severe storms, but the 12Z GFS has backed off on that idea. All voodoo… just too early to call. Watch the Weather Xtreme video for the day by day breakdown into the Halloween weekend.

STORM ALERT XTREME: Want to be trained as a storm spotter? Want to join the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher team? Our annual training event, Storm Alert Xtreme, is coming up on Saturday November 14 at the BJCC during the annual Birmingham International Auto Show. You will be trained by the best SKYWARN trainer in the nation, our own Brian Peters (he has trained over 6,000 Alabama storm spotters over the years). We encourage all of our Skywatchers to attend this every year; you simply cannot get enough training. We will begin at 9:30, and be out by 3:30. And, everyone that attends Storm Alert Xtreme gets free admission to the Alabama International Auto Show. There is no admission charge, and no need to register. Just show up, but get there early for a good seat. We had a packed house last year.

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 had a great time today seeing the 3rd graders at Cottondale Elementary… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News… the next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

Category: Uncategorized