Hot, Humid Summer Days

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Yep… we are getting into HHH country… hot, hazy, and humid. The biggest forecast issue is the coverage and intensity of the showers and storms that bubble up during the heat of the day.

As expected, the radar is very quiet this afternoon, with just a few small showers and storms that are very widely separated. While most neighborhoods will stay dry tomorrow, we do expect a slow day to day increase in afternoon storm coverage, probably peaking on Thursday when a weak surface boundary will be just north of Alabama.

We will head back into the 92 to 95 degree range tomorrow, with the afternoon heat backing down just a few degrees over the latter half of the week thanks to increased afternoon thunderstorm action.

WEEKEND PEEK: Nothing to suggest anything unusual for the weekend; hot and muggy with partly sunny days, and the risk of scattered, mainly afternoon showers and storms. Looks like the high Saturday and Sunday will be very close to 90. The same pattern lingers into next week.

BIG BERTHA NOW A CAT THREE: Bertha is a category three hurricane, with winds estimated at 115 mph (still too far out for reconnaissance data). See the Weather Xtreme video for all of the graphics. Most of the models bend Bertha to the north by the end of the week, thanks to a weakness in the ridge north of the system. The NHC track follows this idea, and has Bertha moving north, passing just east of Bermuda by Saturday. Most tropical cyclones in this position recurve into the open Atlantic, but steering currents seem to collapse this weekend and nothing is carved in stone. One way or another this won’t be a Gulf of Mexico storm.

AIR QUALITY ALERT: A code orange ozone alert is in effect for Jefferson and Shelby Counties tomorrow…

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 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. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We will have an all new episode available tonight by 10:00 or so…

TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.

I sure enjoyed speaking to the big group of teachers this morning at the AMSTI Institute at Saks High School… AMSTI is the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, and the mission is The mission is to improve math and science education in Alabama so all students develop the skills necessary for success in post secondary studies and the work force. ABC 33/40 is a big supporter of AMSTI, and Jason Simpson of our staff has helped develop a meteorology curriculum that will be used in many Alabama schools this year.

Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

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