The Heat Is On

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

How about this one from Glenn Frey?

“The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat’s so loud, deep inside
The pressure’s high, just to stay alive
‘Cause the heat is on”

RIGHT NOW: Temperatures, generally speaking, are below forecast values this afternoon. Some 3:00 observations…

Anniston 93
Gadsden 93
Birmingham 95
Tuscaloosa 98

You can clearly see the impact of the deeper topsoil moisture over Central and East Alabama, where temperatures are in the low to mid 90s. The hotter readings, as expected, are over West and Northwest Alabama where upper 90s are being observed.

And, as expected, not much on radar. Just a few tiny showers over East Alabama’s Calhoun, Cleburne, and Randolph Counties.

TOMORROW: Pretty much like today. Highs in the 95-100 degree range, with the higher readings over West and Northwest Alabama, where a few triple digit readings are likely. Warm air aloft should be generally dry conditions; any afternoon showers and storms should be pretty isolated.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY: The heat ridge weakens a bit, opening the door for the return of scattered afternoon and evening showers and storms. Highs drop back into the low to mid 90s.

OUR WEEKEND: Very typical August weather is likely… partly sunny, hot days with the risk of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms in scattered spots. Highs will be in the low to mid 90s, which is about what we expect in early August in Alabama. Some of the storms could be strong where they form with gusty winds and lots of lightning, and they won’t be moving very fast. But, due to the scattered nature of the storms some communities will be dry.

This kind of routine summer weather will continue into early next week.

EMILY: Models have shifted to the right, keeping Tropical Storm Emily offshore this weekend, and NHC has adjusted their track accordingly. Be sure and watch the Weather Xtreme video for all the graphics… but it looks like there will be a weakness in the ridge north of the system by the weekend which should allow for recurvature just off the South Atlantic Coast of the U.S.

And, we note NHC does not show Emily strengthening into a hurricane due to interaction with Hispaniola and an upper air pattern that isn’t exactly favorable for rapid deepening as the system moves through the Bahamas.

Of course, all of this is not carved in stone and the forecast track is subject to change. But, at this point we firmly believe Emily will have no impact on the Gulf of Mexico or Alabama, and there is a decent chance it stays off the Atlantic coast as well.

The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet for now.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

I had a great time today visiting with the kids at Westwood Baptist Church in Alexandria… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News.

I will be spending a few days away on vacation… Brian Peters will have the video updates through Sunday; my next Weather Xtreme video will be up bright and early Monday morning by 7:00!

Tags: hot

Category: Alabama's Weather