Midday Nowcast: Dry Thursday; Wet and Stormy Friday

DRY TODAY: Plenty of sunshine today is allowing temperatures to surge into the mid and upper 80s across the state. Later this afternoon and evening, clouds begin to return ahead of our next storm system that will bring rain and storms back to Alabama for our Friday and into our Saturday.

BIRMINGHAM ALMANAC: For May 16th, the average high for Birmingham is 84° and the average low is 61°. The record high is 95° set in 1962, while the record low is 47° set in 1973. We average 0.13” of precipitation on this date, and the record value is 2.04” set in 1975.

RAIN AND STORMS: Occasional widespread rain and storms will move through Alabama tomorrow, tomorrow night, and into Saturday. The first batch of rain will arrive early tomorrow morning; heavier storms are possible near the Gulf Coast. Several additional waves of rain/thunderstorms will continue through the afternoon and tomorrow night. The SPC has defined a “slight risk” (level 2/5) of severe thunderstorms over much of Central and Southwest Alabama (Tuscaloosa and Birmingham south to Montgomery and Mobile), and a “marginal risk” (level 1/5) for the rest of the state.

For now it looks like the higher chance of severe thunderstorms will be over the southern portions of the state, where better instability values will be in place. The main threats will come from strong, potentially damaging straight line winds and hail, but a few isolated tornadoes are possible.

Rain looks to be main threat with this event, and is expected to be heavy at times Friday, Friday night, and through Saturday and some flooding issues could develop. Rainfall amounts for much of Alabama will be in the 2-3 inch range, while 1-2 inches are possible for northern sections of the state. Isolated higher amounts are certainly possible.

Flooding issues are certainly possible in spots over the southern 2/3 of the state and the Weather Prediction Center has issued a moderate risk for excessive rainfall for a large portion of the state.

WEEKEND WEATHER: Expect the rain to wind down later Saturday and the weather will improve by Sunday. Sunday should feature more sunshine than clouds. Highs will be in the lower 80s Saturday, followed by upper 80s Sunday.

NEXT WEEK: An upper ridge will build over the region, and for now a decent part of next week looks dry with highs in the mid to upper 80s and more and more 90s will start to show up on the maps. Though most of the week looks dry, a few scattered showers will be possible, especially on Wednesday.

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 117.3F at Jacobabad, Pakistan. The lowest observation was -89.3F at Dome C, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 108F at Death Valley, CA. The lowest observation was 17F at Peter Sinks, UT.

Tags: ANC, featured, flooding, severe storms

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS