Tons O’ Sun

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A LITTLE WARMER THIS AFTERNOON: We rise to near the 90 degree mark this afternoon, but dewpoints remain in the 40s, and the humidity will stay very low, making for a delightful Labor Day for Alabama. Coolest spot so far I can find this morning is the small hamlet of Broomtown in Cherokee County (near the Georgia border in Northeast Alabama) with 46 degrees. Valley Head and Scottsboro were at 48 degrees at 6:00, and Haleyville checked in with 49.

The 6:00 observation at the Birmingham Airport was 65, considerably warmer that outlying areas thanks to the “urban heat island” effect… the city infrastructure has a great impact on temperatures, especially minimum temperatures on a morning like this. The record low for today at Birmingham is 53, set in 1984, and many of the smaller communities surrounding Birmingham have actually dropped below that, but there will be no official record low today.

THE WEEK AHEAD: A little model madness as we look at weather in coming days. The GFS is relatively dry, suggesting only isolated afternoon showers Wednesday through Friday. But, the NAM is wetter and more aggressive with moisture return, and hits the chance of rain harder. For now, we will mention some risk of widely scattered afternoon showers and storms each day Wednesday through Friday, and make adjustments as needed. Humidity levels will be higher, and we should reach the low 90s. Mornings won’t be nearly as cool.

WEEKEND PEEK: Not much change on Saturday; partly sunny with some risk of an afternoon storm in scattered spots. However, the GFS shows a surface front pushing into North Alabama Sunday, which should bring a better chance of showers and storms over the latter half of the weekend. That front stalls out near I-20 Monday of next week, so it is unlikely that we get a nice push of cooler air this time.

HELLO HERMINE: Tropical Storm Hermine formed this morning in the Southwest Gulf of Mexico with top winds of 40 mph; it will make landfall near the Texas/Mexico border after midnight tonight, and it will mainly be a big rain producer for the Rio Grande Valley.

GASTON? The remnant low, formerly known as Tropical Storm Gaston, has been fighting very dry air in the Central Atlantic, and will approach the Leeward Islands late tonight. One the system gets out of the wake of Earl and Danielle, it has a much better chance of developing over the Caribbean, but interaction with Hispaniola will be a problem. That is a very mountainous island, and can really disrupt tropical systems, sometimes to the point of dissipation. But, if the system passes south of the island as suggested by most dynamic models, it has a chance of ramping up into a tropical storm, and possibly a hurricane in the next 3 to 5 days. And, of course, in that position it becomes a candidate to enter the Gulf of Mexico. We will be watching; see the Weather Xtreme video for more details.

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We are on a holiday schedule today, but we get back to the two a day schedule tomorrow for the Weather Xtreme video. Enjoy the day!

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