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Storms Continue Over East Alabama Tonight

| July 21, 2016 @ 10:34 pm

It has been a stormy night across the eastern half of Alabama tonight, with widespread thunderstorms along and south of I-59 and east of I-65.

The big hot ridge of high pressure that has been dominating much of the United States has shifted a little west tonight. This weakening over the eastern half of the state has allowed storms to form in the high instability left over after today’s hot temperatures in the upper 90s. Huntsville reached 100F. Birmingham topped out at 98F.

Low level lapse rates have been moderately strong tonight and there has been about 30 knots of speed shear that have allowed the storms to remain more organized that typical summertime pulse storms.

There are no warnings in effect right now. Earlier there were warnings over eastern Alabama. Trees and power lines were reported down along US-78 in Calhoun County ESE of Anniston.

At 10:30 p.m. the strongest storms are over Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Talladega, Calhoun, Cherokee and northern Cleburne Counties. They are producing torrential rain, strong gusty winds, deadly lightning and some small hail. Be in a safe place if they are in the neighborhood.

Here is the radar, showing base reflectivity on the left and composite reflectivity on the right.

7-21-2016 10-31-45 PM

Over two inches of rain has fallen over eastern Coosa and southwestern Clay Counties. Areas southwest of Heflin also picked up around two inches. Be alert for some local flooding.

So far, the Birmingham area has avoided the storms, There is a small storm over southern Blount County that has had a hard time getting its act together. There is a small storm over Bessemer in southwestern Jefferson County.

The storms will persist over Central Alabama for a couple of more hours, but they are slowly weakening.

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About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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