Summertime Weather

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As July works its way toward a close, the summertime weather pattern continues for the Southeast US. This means the upper ridge is in place with surface high keeping the hot and humid air mass in place. And unfortunately there are no signs of an air mass change in our future – at least for now. So look for a continuation of the heat and humidity along with daily showers and thunderstorms.

While the ridge does stick tight for the weekend, a strong short wave moving across the Great Lakes Sunday and Monday will help to nudge the ridge back west. While this won’t change our air mass, it will bring increased shower coverage to the area on Monday. Rainfall amounts will continue to vary widely across the area due to the nature of showers. While some spots won’t see any rain, other locations could see 1 to 1.5 inches of rain over the next five days within the stronger showers and storms.

Contending with the upper ridge also means contending with temperatures in the 90s. I don’t expect to see any wild swings in temperatures with highs mainly in the mid 90s for the next week. Monday we could see highs in the lower 90s due to clouds and showers. Clouds could also keep temperatures down a bit on Thursday.

By Friday and into the weekend, look for the ridge to build stronger again forcing temperatures into the mid 90s, perhaps edging into the upper 90s.

With the strong upper ridge, organized severe weather activity continues to be forced along the northern periphery of the ridge. SPC has a long area outlined for a slight risk today from Minnesota all the way to New York City. Day 2 the area is confined to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and the southern two thirds of Lake Michigan.

Tropics have been a little more active over the last week, and the Hurricane Center is watching an area of cloudiness in the extreme eastern Caribbean. The area of cloudiness is working westward and there is potential for slow development of this weak disturbance.

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I’m traveling with my daughter in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are currently in St. Ignace, MI, and we plan to go over to Mackinac Island today before heading west to Manestique, MI. Watch the end of the video for a picture of the Mackinac Bridge that we took last night. Temperatures a lot cooler here than in Central Alabama – actually saw 77 when we crossed the bridge yesterday. The next Weather Xtreme Video should be available 8-ish tomorrow morning. Godspeed.

-Brian-

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Category: Alabama's Weather