Isolated Showers; Temperatures Trend Downward Beginning Wednesday

RADAR CHECK: We have a few isolated showers on radar this afternoon over the eastern half of the state, otherwise the sky is partly too mostly sunny with temperatures in the 87-93 degree range. Showers will end this evening, and tonight will be mostly fair with a low in the upper 60s and low 70s.

Not much change tomorrow, but showers could be a little more numerous during the afternoon with the approach of surface front. Then, cooler air slips into the state over the latter half of the week with highs dropping into the 81-85 degree range over the northern counties, with upper 80s for South Alabama. The front will become nearly stationary, meaning we will maintain the chance of a few scattered showers daily, but nothing especially heavy or widespread.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: We will maintain the risk of a few showers over the weekend, but it certainly won’t be a wash-out, and the sun will be out at times. Chance of any one spot seeing rain Saturday is 25-35 percent, and 50-60 percent Sunday. Highs will remain in the low 80s for North Alabama, with mid to upper 80s to the south.

NEXT WEEK: While we will have a few days with scattered showers around, we still don’t see any widespread, heavy, high impact rain event through the week. Highs will be in the 80s, lows in the 60s. See the video briefing for maps, graphics, and more details.

TROPICS: Hurricane Lee remains a category three storm with winds of 120 mph, and about 610 miles south of Bermuda. Fluctuations in strength are likely in the short term due to eyewall replacement cycles, but there is an opportunity for some strengthening during that time since the system is expected to remain over very warm waters and in relatively low wind shear conditions. Beyond a couple of days, however, progressively cooler waters and a notable increase in shear should cause Lee to gradually weaken. Although the weakening is forecast later in the week, Lee is expected to significantly increase in size.

Lee will likely pass just east of the Cape Cod and the coast of Maine, but because of the large wind radius there will some impact there. Lee will likely move into Nova Scotia Sunday.

Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Margo is expected to become a hurricane this week in the Central Atlantic, but it will remain far from land.

And, a new wave in the eastern Atlantic has a 60 percent chance of development during the next seven days… most likely this one turns north before reaching the U.S. No tropical systems will threaten the Gulf of Mexico for at least the next week or so.

ON THIS DATE IN 1961: Hurricane Carla made landfall on the northeast part of Matagorda Island, Texas as a strong Category 4 storm. Carla was an extremely large hurricane with devastating effects from the winds and storm surge for the Middle and Upper Texas coast. Hurricane force gusts were recorded along the Texas coast from Port Mansfield to Galveston. The highest sustained wind speeds reported were 115 mph at Matagorda, 110 mph at Victoria, and 88 mph at Galveston. Extreme peak wind gusts were estimated to be near 170 mph at Port Lavaca as the wind equipment blew away after reading 153 mph.

ON THIS DATE IN 2001: Hurricane Erin was off the coast of New Jersey and New York on this day. Two of the four hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, took off from Boston’s Logan Airport, and one each took off from Newark-Liberty and Dulles Airports. It’s safe to assume that a significant number of flights to and from the major Northeast hubs would’ve been canceled if Hurricane Erin had threatened the East Coast in September 2001.

Look for the next video briefing here by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow…

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