Midday Nowcast: A Carbon Copy Forecast

A carbon copy forecast? Why would I say that? The best answer is that a typical summertime forecast for Central Alabama will sound like a broken record, or someone just copying and pasting a previous forecast, its nearly the same everyday. In Alabama, you can almost guarantee that everyday will be hot, humid, and have a small chance of a scattered afternoon shower or thunderstorm. Highs will range in the 90s with overnight lows in the 70s. We will have a few occasions where drier conditions will move in with a ridge, but with that will usually come oppressive heat (upper 90s to low 100s). Sometimes we could get a brief cool down and have a day or two in the upper 80s. But for most summertime days in Central Alabama, you’ll get the carbon copy forecast… and that’s what you have for today.

AT THIS HOUR: Mostly clear skies out there with a few cumulus clouds floating around not only for Central Alabama, but for the entire southeast. Cloud cover is heaviest along the Gulf Coasts of Alabama and western Florida and there is a good reason for that.

RADAR CHECK: For areas north of the I-85 and U.S. 80 corridor, the radar is clear at this time. South of that, isolated showers and a few storms have developed over the southwestern counties of the state and just north of the beaches of the Gulf Coast stretching from Grand Bay, AL eastward to Apalachicola.

TEMPERATURES AT THIS HOUR: All of Central Alabama is up in the mid to upper 80s for current temperatures. Here is a list of temperature observations from across the state:

Birmingham 84
Tuscaloosa 84
Gadsden 83
Anniston 83
Cullman 81
Decatur 83
Huntsville 85
Muscle Shoals 87
Alexander City 88
Montgomery 87

WHAT TO EXPECT FOR TODAY: Mostly sunny skies with a small risk for scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Storms should be fewer in number today as the upper trough that has been hanging around near the area has dissipated. Afternoon highs will be in the low 90s. The chance of any one spot getting rain today is about one in four.

CODE YELLOW AIR QUALITY: The Air Quality Index for the Birmingham Metropolitan Area will be in the “Code Yellow” for particulate matter 2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.

TODAY’S CLIMATOLOGY FOR BIRMINGHAM: The normal high for July 13th is 91, while the normal low is 70. The record high for today was set back in 1980 at 106. The record low was set back in 1918 at 60.

THURSDAY’S WEATHER: Same story as today, just a tad warmer. Mostly sunny skies with a small risk of scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon highs in the low to mid 90s.

HEADED TO THE BEACH: About 7 to 9 hours of sunshine can be expected daily from Fort Morgan all the way over to Panama City Beach through the weekend. Just the normal risk of a passing thunderstorm each day, with highs in the upper 80s to near 90 on the coast, with low to mid 90s inland. See a very detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

THE TROPICS: The tropical Atlantic is quiet for now, with no new tropical cyclone development expected during the next five days.

WEATHERBRAINS: This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists at ABC 33/40. You can listen anytime on the web, or on iTunes. You can find it here.

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Category: Alabama's Weather