Category: Alabama’s Weather
Cooler, Less Humid Today
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.
BREATH OF FRESH AIR: Usually weather here for the Memorial Day weekend is hot and humid, but not this year. A continental airmass rolls into our state today with a fresh north breeze; the high will be in the mid to upper 70s with lower humidity. Look for blue sky and sunshine all day… just doesn’t get any better.
ONE MORE VISIT TO THE 40s: We project a low in the 46-50 degree range for most places early tomorrow, with potential for low 40s across the colder valleys of North and Central Alabama. Birmingham’s record low for May 25 is 45 set in 1979… we will be close to that level. Next time we see 40s on a widespread basis, most likely, will be in October.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Sunny warm days, clear cool nights through Monday. Look for low 80s tomorrow, followed by mid 80s Sunday and Monday. Humidity levels begin to creep up a bit Sunday and Monday, but still amazingly comfortable for late May in Alabama.
And, we should stay dry basically all of next week with mostly sunny days. Highs will be mostly in the upper 80s, and humidity levels rise back to average levels. An upper ridge will keep rain producers well to the north and west, and the warmer air aloft should prevent afternoon showers from forming.
AT THE BEACH: Same story. Lots of sunshine each day through the weekend and next week. Highs on the immediate coast will be in the low 80s, and the sea water temperature early this morning at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab is 81 degrees.
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.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Instagram
We are going on a holiday schedule… so with a nice quiet pattern we will produce just one video per day through Monday. Brian Peters will have the video updates tomorrow and Sunday… I will be back in the saddle on Memorial Day. Enjoy the weekend!
Long Dry Spell Ahead
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.
RADAR CHECK: Nothing showing up at mid-afternoon, and I guess we could hang on to a slight risk of a shower this evening with a cold front passing through, but the chance of any one place seeing rain is less than five percent. Temperatures are mostly in the mid 80s at 3:00 as I write this.
BREATH OF FRESH AIR: Tomorrow will feel like fall. Blue sky, sunshine, a fresh north breeze, and lower humidity. The high will in the mid to upper 70s, well below average for late May in Alabama. The GFS is printing a low of 47 degrees for Birmingham at daybreak Saturday… the record low for May 25 is 45 set in 1979… we might just give that a run for the money.
HOLIDAY WEEKEND: Just doesn’t get any better. Sunny warm days, clear cool nights Saturday through Monday with highs in the 82-86 degree range. Lows in the 50s. Humidity levels unusually low for late May.
And, just about all of next week stays warm and dry thanks to ridging aloft, which keeps the main storminess well to the north and west of Alabama.
AT THE BEACH: Pretty much the same story. No rain through most of next week with sunny days and fair nights. Highs on the immediate coast will be at or just over 80 degrees, with higher temperatures inland. A check of the sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab this afternoon shows 83 degrees.
NOAA HURRICANE OUTLOOK: NOAA’s Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook released this afternoon says there is a 70 percent likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 7 to 11 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 6 major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher). The season begins June 1.
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.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Instagram
I enjoyed speaking at an EMS conference at Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham today… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…
JB’s Journal: A Good Way to Never Shiver Again
A Good Way to Never Shiver Again
It was a quiet day at NWS at 11 West Oxmoor Road. That is until the mailman came by. He delivered us a thick 11×14 brown Kraft envelope.
We opened it and it was about a 10-page document from some gentlemen who said they were local engineers. They had made elaborate line drawings showing a long row of huge windmills lined up across the U.S./Canadian border. They insisted that when they were activated they would blow all of the cold air back into Canada and Alaska. They wanted our approval and then they were going to submit the plan to the U.S. government explaining it would save U.S. citizens millions of dollars in heating bills.
We sat around and discussed it for an hour or two and all of us wound up laughing our heads off. There is no way in the world that could be accomplished. Besides, what would the Canadians say if they started feeling 25 below temperatures coming up from the South.
Our boss decided to repackage it and mail it to our southern regional office in Ft. Worth to see their reaction. Their reaction was absolute zero. We never heard another word.
We got a surprising amount of crank mail in those years. So much so that we had set up a thick file called that.
This is the third in a series of stories about some of my very strange experiences in my 32 years in the U.S.W. B. and National Weather Service—all at the same station.
Delightful Memorial Day Weekend Ahead
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.
TRANQUIL WEATHER: We begin the day with some patchy dense fog… once that burns off the sky will be partly sunny, and most places will see a high in the mid 80s this afternoon. A cold front will pass through the state later today, but it sure looks like it will blow through here, generally speaking, in dry fashion. I guess there might be a blip or two on radar late this afternoon, but the chance of any one spot getting wet has now dropped to 5-10 percent, and it really isn’t worth the mention in the forecast. School with outdoor graduations tonight should be in good shape, and great weather for the SEC baseball tournament in Hoover.
REFRESHING DAY TOMORROW: What a great day in late May. Sunshine in full supply, a fresh north breeze, cooler temperatures, and lower humidity. The high will be only in the mid 70s, about ten degrees below average. A very good chance we reach the upper 40s early Saturday, and colder pockets could see low to mid 40s. Next time we see numbers like this should be in October.
MARVELOUS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Look for sunny warm days and clear cool nights Saturday through Monday. Highs will be in the low to mid 80s, with lows in the 50s early Sunday and Monday morning. Doesn’t get much better.
And, it looks like we stay dry next week with highs mostly in the 80s with just a very slow day to day warming trend. Humidity levels will slowly return to the higher seasonal averages.
AT THE BEACH: Look for mostly sunny days and clear nights from Panama City west to Gulf Shores through the first half of next week. Highs on the immediate coast will be around 80 degrees, and sea water temperatures are running in the 75-80 degree range.
ALMOST TIME: The Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico hurricane season kicks off June 1. Remember, the more significant tropical systems usually come later in the season… usually in August and September when the water is warmest. The first set of names for this year… Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, and Karen.
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.
CONNECT: You can find me on all of the major social networks…
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Instagram
Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 4:00 this afternoon… enjoy the day…
Severe Thunderstorm Warning Parts of Jefferson/Shelby
LATE REPORT
At 4:06, the strongest part of the storm is over Lake Purdy. Damaging winds of near 60 mph are moving up Highway 119 toward Leeds.
Folks from Liberty Park to Leeds/Moody and down to Vandiver will experience strong winds. Be in a sturdy structure as this storm approaches.
Pea sized hail was just reported on top of Double Oak Mountain. The hail fell for 10 minutes.
ORIGINAL POST
The storm over northern Shelby County has become intense and a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for northeastern Shelby and southeastern Shelby County.
The storm extends from near Valleydale Road over to Chelsea.
Doppler Radar indicates very strong winds moving into Indian Springs Village now and they will be moving into Meadowbrook shortly. Folks along 280 from Cahaba Heights to Greystone up to Lake Purdy will get the same potnetially damaging winds as well.
In addition, there will be plenty of lightning and heavy rain as well as hail as the storm straddles the Jefferson/Shelby County line as it moves north northeast.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
EAST CENTRAL JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA…
NORTHEASTERN SHELBY COUNTY IN ALABAMA…
* UNTIL 430 PM CDT
* AT 352 PM CDT…THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL…AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR OAK
MOUNTAIN STATE PARK…OR NEAR CHELSEA…AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
MPH.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE…
LEEDS…HIGHLAND LAKES…FOWLER LAKE…MOUNT LAUREL…LAKE PURDY…
GREYSTONE…BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK AND SHOPS OF GRAND RIVER.
THIS INCLUDES…
INTERSTATE 20 EXIT NUMBER 140…
