Showers Forming, Storms Late Tonight and Tomorrow

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Showers have developed across North Central Alabama tonight in the warm, moist airmass south of a northward retreating warm front and ahead of an upper level disturbance and surface low to our west. There could be some thunder with a couple of the showers that can grow high enough to support lightning, but these cells are not expected to get out of hand.

The weak surface low is west of Memphis. It will push east overnight and as it does, a cold front will push southeastward Saturday morning. Showers and storms will develop overnight to the southeast of the surface low and its associated cold front. As colder air aloft with the upper disturbance pushes east, the airmass will destabilize during the early morning hours and showers and storms will become more widespread.

The front will be near the Northwest corner of the state around 7 a.m. It will reach the I-59 corridor around noon and I-85 by late afternoon. The widespread showers and storms will spread southeastward ahead of the front.

The storms will intensify around lunch time, probably as they push past the I-59 corridor. They could become severe by then. Damaging winds will be the main threat, along with large hail, and there is the possibility of a couple of tornadoes as well.

It will not be a significant or widespread severe weather event, but it does bear watching. We will be monitoring the situation through the night and during the day on Saturday and will have frequent updates here on the blog.

Category: Alabama's Weather