Warmer Days Ahead; Strong Storms Thursday

VARIABLE CLOUDS, COOL: We have a mix of sun and clouds across Alabama this afternoon with temperatures mostly in the 60s, about ten degrees below average for late April. No rain on radar, and the sky becomes mostly fair tonight. Most communities will see a low between 48 and 52 degrees early tomorrow morning. Not many of these cool nights left before the long, hot summer arrives.

TOMORROW/WEDNESDAY: We warm to near 80 degrees tomorrow with sunshine in full supply, followed by mid 80s Wednesday. Strong storms are possible west of Alabama Wednesday across Louisiana, Arkansas, and adjacent states, but we stay dry with a good supply of sunshine.

STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE THURSDAY: Clouds return to the state Thursday, and a surface low over the Great Lakes will drag a cold front through the state. The air will be very unstable, with potential for surface based CAPE values to exceed 3,000 j/kg by afternoon. This will bring a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms to the state during the daytime hours; it is too early to determine the magnitude of the threat and the timing. For now SPC does not have any risk defined in their “Day 4” outlook for Thursday.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday and Saturday will be dry and very warm, if not “hot” for late April. We expect mid 80s Friday, and by Saturday the high will be in the 87 to 90 degree range. A significant severe weather is setting up west of Alabama late this week and into the weekend; SPC already has this region blanketed in severe weather risks. The latest run of the GFS model hints that Sunday in Alabama will stay mostly dry, but showers and storms will move into the state Sunday night, and possibly into Monday morning. These storms could be strong to severe, but needless to say there just isn’t a way of defining the threat so far in advance.

You know the routine; we need to get through the event Thursday, and then we can focus on Sunday night.

NEXT WEEK: Showers and storms will exit the state Monday morning, and Monday will be much cooler with a high closer to 70 degrees. Another round of storms is likely toward the end of next week; see the Weather Xtreme video for maps, graphics, and more details.

SATURDAY’S SEVERE WEATHER EVENT: An EF-1 tornado touched down Saturday evening at Jones Chapel in Cullman County… see the essay I wrote concerning the warning process surrounding that event.

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I enjoyed seeing the entire student body at Cleveland Elementary/High School this morning… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News! The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

Tags: ANC, warmer

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Weather Xtreme Videos