Warm With A Few Cirrus Clouds Over Central Alabama at Midday

WE DESPERATELY NEED RAIN:
At this midday hour across Central Alabama, skies are mostly clear with the exception for a few high cirrus clouds floating overhead. It is pretty much the same story across the Southeastern United States at this moment. Mostly clear to sunny skies across this lovely part of the nation, with only some cumulus clouds over the Florida Peninsula. The closest rain to the state is way back in the eastern part of Oklahoma, the northwestern corner of Arkansas, and up through southwestern parts of Missouri. The surface boundary that these showers and storms are associated with will start to move through the state during the very early morning through the late morning hours tomorrow, unfortunately the moisture will not be following it into the state.

As you can see by this map, most of the eastern parts of the are has been classified under “Extreme” or ‘Exceptional” drought conditions, while the rest of the area is mostly under “Severe” drought conditions. This will be the 38th consecutive day without measurable rain in the Birmingham Area (based on data from the airport), and with the lack of moisture in the soil, temperatures will be very warm for the next seven days, at least.

BURN BAN AND FIRE ALERT:
A Drought Emergency continues in effect, banning any outdoor burning for the northern two-thirds of the state. A Fire Alert remains in effect for the whole state. Click here for more information.

TEMPERATURES:

CODE YELLOW AIR QUALITY ALERT:
Particulate Matter 2.5 levels will be high enough to raise a Code Yellow Air Quality Alert for the Birmingham metropolitan area today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.

NORMS AND RECS FOR TODAY IN BIRMINGHAM:
The normal high for October 26th is 71, while the normal low is 47. The record high for today was set back in 1963 at 88. The record low was set back in 1968 at 29.

REST OF TODAY:
Skies will remain mostly clear for the remainder of the afternoon, with highs in the low to mid 80s across the area. A few more clouds will move in during the late night and overnight hours, and a few raindrops could be possible for the northwestern part of the area. Overnight lows will range in the upper 50s to the mid 60s. The odds for any one spot in the northwestern part of the area to get any rain is less than one in five.

THURSDAY’S FORECAST:
Skies will be mostly cloudy to start off with, and there is a very small risk for a few showers, but don’t get your hopes up. The odds for any one spot getting rain before noon are slim, less than one in five. If any rain falls at all, totals will be meager at best, less than 1/10th of an inch. Clouds will start to move out during the afternoon hours and will be partly cloudy by dusk. Afternoon highs will be warm again, up in the low to mid 80s. Skies will clear out for the night time, and overnight lows will be in the 50s throughout the area, with Birmingham staying in the 60s. A few of the colder pockets may dip down into the 40s.

HEADED TO THE BEACH:
Sunny days, fair nights on the coast through the rest of the week and weekend. Highs will be in the low 80s and lows in the 60s. See a very detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

TROPICAL UPDATE:
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days across the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the North Atlantic Ocean.

ON THIS DAY IN 1988:
Thunderstorms moving out of northern Texas spawned five tornadoes in Louisiana during the morning hours. The thunderstorms also produced wind gusts to 75 mph at Jennings LA, and the driver of a vehicle was killed by a falling tree near Coushatta LA. Snow squalls in the Lower Great Lakes Region produced heavy snow in western New York State, with 12 inches reported at Colden.

THE BLOG IS ON TWITTER:
Be sure to follow the Alabama Wx Weather Blog on Twitter. Just click here to start following our feed.

WEATHERBRAINS:
This is the weekly netcast that’s 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.

ADVERTISE WITH US:
Deliver your message to a highly engaged audience by advertising on the AlabamaWX.com website. The site enjoyed 10.2 MILLION pageviews in the past 12 months. Don’t miss out! We can customize a creative, flexible and affordable package that will suit your organization’s needs. Contact Bill Murray at (205) 687-0782.

Category: Alabama's Weather