Midday Nowcast: Tropical Downpours at Times

WET AT TIMES: A tropical, unstable air mass remains in place across Alabama and the Deep South this week, and we are forecasting scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms on a daily basis. A majority of the showers and storms will come from noon to midnight, and with high precipitable water values, stronger storms will be very efficient rain producers, and areas of isolated flash flooding will be possible. Also, summer storms produce tremendous amounts of lightning. It won’t be raining all the time, and when it is not, expect the sun will peek out at times. But, with generally mainly cloudy conditions, daytime temperatures will remain below average, with highs in the mid 80s on most days.

RADAR CHECK: As of late this morning, all the rain and storms are over the northern portions of the state, but through the afternoon and evening hours, the radar will get a lot more active across Central Alabama. Again, rainfall will be heavy at times, and expect lots of lightning if you find yourself under one of these storms.

BIRMINGHAM ALMANAC: For July 23rd, the average high for Birmingham is 91° and the average low is 73°. The record high is 105° set in 1952, while the record low is 60° set in 1915. We average 0.17” of precipitation on this date, and the record value is 1.77” set in 1930.

WEEKEND WEATHER: An upper ridge will try and rebuild across the region, meaning a trend toward fewer showers and storms Saturday and Sunday. Chance of any one spot seeing rain both days will be in the 40-50 percent, and with a mix of sun and clouds we expect highs to climb into the upper 90 and lower 90s.

NEXT WEEK: A more typical summer pattern is the story for the week of July 29-August 2 with hot, humid days and “scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms”. Highs will be around 90° Monday and Tuesday, and climbing into the low and mid 90s for the rest of the week.

IN THE TROPICS: The Atlantic Basin is quiet and tropical cyclone development is not expected the next seven days. This is not unusual for this time of year as the core of hurricane season is late August through September, with the statistical peak around September 10th.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Numerous showers and storms are the beaches with high in the mid 80s. PLEASE pay attention to the Rip Current Flag System at each beach. 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 119.7F at Adrar, Algeria. The lowest observation was -83.9F at Vostok, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 124F at Death Valley, CA. The lowest observation was 32F at Foxpark, WY.

Tags: ANC, featured, humid, scattered storms, wet

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS