Midday Nowcast: Big HEAT, Big STORMS

Hot temperatures and high humidity are pushing heat index values into the 105°+ danger range today and tomorrow across portions of Alabama and we are seeing Heat Advisories for portions of the state both days.

We remain on the edge of the heat dome to our west, and complexes of storms are moving around the edge of the dome ridge, and these will move into Alabama and some of these storms could be strong to locally severe.

Big HEAT, Big STORMS and we will see these across Alabama today and tomorrow. The SPC maintains the severe weather risk for much of Alabama today and added a “slight risk” (level 2/5) of severe thunderstorms for that part of Alabama north of a line from Russellville to Gardendale to Ranburne, while a “marginal risk” (level 1/5) as far south as Eutaw, Montgomery, and Phenix City.

An organized cluster of storms over Tennessee will drop into Alabama later today; this MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) will move into North Alabama with potential for strong winds and heavy rain. The tornado threat is very low but not zero. Like we have seen all summer, damaging winds will be the main severe weather threat with the storms today. Of course all summer storms will produce tremendous amounts of lightning, and we also note, with localized rainfall totals in the 1-3” range today and tomorrow, some areas of flash flooding could occur. A flood watch has been issued for areas north of a line from Russellville to Birmingham to Heflin through tomorrow afternoon.

MORE STORMS TOMORROW: There is potential for another mass of storms to move through Alabama tomorrow; there is a “marginal risk” (level 1/5) of severe thunderstorms for roughly the southern 2/3 of the state. Again, damaging wind gusts will be the main threat with storms tomorrow.

Both today and tomorrow, the radar will be active, but it will not rain everywhere and some locations could certainly remain dry and hot with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s

ACROSS THE USA: Prolonged dangerous summer heat wave continues for portions of the South and Southwest with several new record temperatures are forecast. Severe thunderstorms are possible for areas of the Plains, Tennessee Valley and Great Lakes Region today, with the threat expanding across New England. More severe thunderstorms are forecast for the Plains, Ohio Valley and Northeast into the weekend.

WEEKEND WEATHER: Hot and humid weather will persist this weekend and during the afternoon and evening hours, thunderstorms will develop across the state. These will be completely random, so you will have to watch radar trends both days. All summer storms will again produce gusty winds, heavy rainfall, and loads of lightning. It won’t rain everywhere, and it will remain hot with afternoon highs in the low to mid 90s. Heat index values will likely be over 100° as well.

INTO NEXT WEEK: For now, it doesn’t look like the weather pattern for the second week of August will be much different than the first week. Scattered afternoon showers and storms will be possible on each afternoon to early evening. Highs will generally be in the low to mid 90s.

IN THE TROPICS: All is quiet and no tropical cyclone development is expected through the weekend.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Fort Morgan to Panama City on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in visiting.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 124.3F at Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait. The lowest observation was -96.5F Dome C, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 118F at Death Valley, CA. The lowest observation was 36F at Bynum, MT.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS