Archive for May 2nd, 2012
Late Night in Alabama–All is Well (Quieter) at 10:45
But not totally so. We still need to keep watch.
Within the last two hours, big, mean thunderstorms have diminished somewhat in Alabama but they have not all gone away in the night.
Scattered strong storms continue over West Alabama from the west edge of Jefferson County across the north edge of Tuscaloosa County…then across Fayette and North Lamar County and finally to about Hamilton in Northwest Alabama’s Marion County.
Moving NW. No formal warnings at this time. Last Severe Thunderstorm Warning was at 6:33 pm.
Lightning detection equipment shows a mark decrease in lightning in the last few hours. This includes areas near the coast where lightning was extremely frequent earlier. There is still some strokes along the coast and offshore but not nearly as frequent as before.
We will stay on watch overnight. Also, there is a good chance of showers and thunderstorms tomorrow. It is our better day to get some beneficial rain over a wider part of the state.
We do not plan to run out of coffee overnight and we will get a bit of rest if the dtorms will permit.
We will have some rain amounts around 1 am to 1:30 am but we feel sure Mobile has been soaked with more than six inches by now! Much of that was dumped onthe city this afternoon and there was serious flash flooding.
Rain/Storms Lighten Up A Bit
Rain and storms continue tonight from Marion through Fayette, eastern Tuscaloosa, western Jefferson and western Shelby Counties.
Lighter rain extends into Walker County.
Moderate rain is over Chilton, Autauga and Dallas Counties in South Central Alabama.
The storms have weakened considerably in the past couple of hours.
The rain will stay west of I-65 tonight as the activity pinwheels around an upper low in Mississippi.
It will eventually shift eastward into the rest of North Alabama tomorrow as the low turns back to the east.
Heavy Rain/Storms West of I-65
A band of heavy rain and storms along the outer periphery of a weak upper level circulation over South Central Mississippi extends across parts of western Alabama tonight.
They extend from eastern Marion and Winston through eastern Fayette and Walker Counties into eastern Tuscaloosa and Jefferson Counties.
The heaviest rain extends from Oakman in Walker County down into eastern Tuscaloosa County and over Norhwest Alabama between Hackleburg and Phil Campbell.
Nothing severe at this point, but there is plenty of lightning, heavy rain, gusty winds and even some small hail.
Pea sized hail was reported at 8:35 south of Haleyville with winds gusting to 40 mph.
We don’t anticipate any more severe weather in Alabama overnight, but we will be watching to make sure heavy rain doean’t become a problem. And we can’t rule out an isolated severe weather report or warning.
More showers and storms were organizing over South Central Alabama over Chilton, Autauga and Dallas Counties. These storms will move north northwest in the same general tracks as the storms that are further to the north.
How Alabama Weather Looks at 8:30 Tonight
And it is encouraging for a state that was getting very dry in many of its counties. Indeed, three or four counties in the southeast corner of Alabama had already reached major drought status based on the latest drought assessment.
Those thunderstorms that became briefly strong west of Birmingham have now moved to the northwest. With night coming on, they have weakened in intensity.
However, at 8:30 a long string of thunderstorms (or should we call it a long row or line of thunderstorms) extended from Central Alabama all the way into the northwest corner of the state. Generally they are located from North Chilton County northwest to just west and southwest of Birmingham, then northwest through Walker County to Marion County in Northwest County.
It is pouring rain over the northwest corner of Walker County. However, by far, the heaviest rain is still near the coast, especially in places like Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island. In those storms, the area is getting an overdose of lightning. Remember–lightning is frightening.
It has been raining so heavily near the coast that Mobile Regional Airport measured 5.67 inches of rain since 1:00 this afternoon.
There is another major concern along the coast, including Gulf Shores. A high rip current warning is in effect until at least late tonight. Those are dangerous, we all know, and can sweep you off your feet. Before we close, here is a sample of a few high temperatures around Alabama today:
92 at Muscle Shoals Airport
90 at Muscle Shoals/TVA
90 at Decatur Airport
89 at Birmingham Airport
The outlook for tomorrow is for a good chance of showers and thunderstorms. This is turning out to be our best chance of getting some much needed rain in many different parts of the state. This may be one of those semi-sleepless nights, but we will posting here on the BLOG off and on all night, even if the weather quietens down somewhat.
Stay tuned.
Storms Over Western Jefferson, Shelby, Walker
Storms are riding from southeast to northwest this evening across western Shelby and western Jefferson Counties.
John Talbot reports heavy pouring rain and intense lightning in Concord/Hueytown. His rainfall rate was up to 2.39 inches per hour. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the heavy rain won’t last very long for him. He had recorded 0.24 inches as of 7:52.
The band of storms seems to be pushing slowly westward, while individual storms move north northwest.
Western Shelby, western Jefferson, eastern Tuscaloosa and eastern Bibb Counties will see pockets of heavy rain and lightning over the next hour.
Further northwest, some heavy storms were just west of Jasper, centered around Carbon Hill. Lightning and maybe some small hail with that activity.
Nothing severe now and the storms should gradually lose intensity as we lose the heating of the day.
In South Alabama, flooding continues. 5.74 inches of rain at the Mobile Airport in the 24 hours ending at 7 p.m.
