Dog Day Afternoon

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A FEW STORMS: As expected, showers and storms are more widely spaced across the northern half of Alabama this afternoon. We do note a few storms over Marion, Lamar, and Fayette Counties at mid-afternoon, along with a strong storm near Auburn that prompted a severe thunderstorm warning earlier this afternoon. Temperatures are back in the low 90s in most places… Birmingham is reporting 93 degrees at 3:00 with a partly sunny sky.

THE DAYS AHEAD: Tomorrow should be very similar to today, with only widely spaced showers and storms and a high in the low to mid 90s. Both the NAM and the GFS are suggesting deeper moisture will cover the region with a general increase in the coverage of scattered showers and storms on Thursday and Friday, with highs dropping a few degrees with a better chance of showers.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: Again, this point, no reason to depart from the standard summer forecast; partly sunny, hot, humid days with the risk of scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low to mid 90s.

TROPICS: Watch the Weather Xtreme video for details… no doubt the tropical wave over the Northwest Caribbean is better organized this afternoon, and NHC has now upped the chance of tropical cyclone formation within 48 hours to 30 percent. The BAM (Beta Advection Model) set identifies this system and moves it in the direction of the mouth of the Rio Grande, just south of Brownsville, Texas in a few days. We do note that most intensity models ramp this up to a tropical storm, and one brings it to hurricane strength by the time of landfall. We will keep a close eye on this, but for now it doesn’t look like it will impact the Central Gulf of Mexico coast, or Alabama.

AT THE BEACH: Showers and storms are likely at times along the coast tomorrow and Thursday with only about 2-4 hours of sunshine. The showers and storms will become more scattered by Friday and the weekend, with about 4-6 hours of sunshine on those three days. Highs will remain mostly in the upper 80s, and the sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab this afternoon is 85.7 degrees.

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I enjoyed speaking to the safety meeting at the Alabama Power facility in Hueytown this morning… their office was only about one mile away from the EF4 tornado that plowed through Concord and Pleasant Grove on April 27. Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

Tags: hot

Category: Alabama's Weather