Drier Air Creeps Into North Alabama

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THIS MORNING: A weak surface boundary, which helped kick off some pretty noisy thunderstorms last night, has pushed down into Central Alabama south of Birmingham this morning. The drier air in the wake of the front is primary in the mid levels (dew points are still in the 70s over the Tennessee Valley), but it should mean the best coverage of showers and storms today will be south of I-20, and especially south of U.S. 80 (Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika). A shower could pop up over North Alabama today, but they should be few and few between.

With the increased amount of sunshine, heat levels will increase a bit today with a high back in the low 90s for most communities.

TOMORROW: Both the GFS and the NAM continue to look relatively dry for the northern half of the state tomorrow; any showers or storms should be pretty isolated. Highs will be in the low to mid 90s, about where they should be for late July in Alabama. This is the time of the year when we expect our hottest weather. We should note that June is going to be hotter than July this year based on average temperatures. Our average high for July so far is 92.2 degrees, while the average high in June was 94.5 degrees.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY: The surface boundary will move north and dissipate, and we will roll with the standard summer forecast, with partly sunny hot days and the risk of a shower or storm in scattered spots. Highs will be mostly in the low to mid 90s.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: No real change. Again, we simply don’t have the skill to be cute and try to identify changes in the coverage and placement of the airmass convection in the maritime tropical air over our state. Mixed sun and clouds, a few scattered showers and storms, and highs mostly in the low 90s. You know the routine.

That will continue into next week as the most serious heat around the nation remains to the west over the parched states of Texas and Oklahoma. We note the high yesterday at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was 106 degrees. That heat is pretty nasty, and they have been dealing with it most of the summer.

TROPICS: The weak wave continues to move over the western tip of Cuba with no development, and the rest of the Atlantic basin remains quiet.

GULF COAST WEATHER: Look for about 3-5 hours of sunshine each day along the coast from Panama City west to Gulf Shores through mid-week with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be mostly in the upper 80s along the immediate coast, and sea water temperatures remain mostly in the mid to upper 80s.

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I will be speaking at an Alabama Power safety meeting out in Hueytown this morning… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

Tags: hot

Category: Alabama's Weather