Warm, Steamy, But Dry Afternoon in Store; More Strong Storms Tonight, Tomorrow

Wet and stormy weather interspersed with periods of warm and steamy conditions will highlight our Memorial Day weekend forecast package. The good news is most spots should see around 1.25 inches of rain between now and Wednesday morning. The bad news is, some Memorial Day events might have to dodge a raindrop or two.

STORMY NIGHT: A line of severe storms brought wind damage to several North and Central Alabama counties overnight. In Birmingham, a large tree fell and crushed a car in the Crestline neighborhood. Trees were blocking Alabama-23 east of St. Clair Springs. Airport Road in Jasper in Walker County was completely blocked by a fallen tree. Elsewhere, numerous trees were down across parts of Blount, Marion, Walker and Lamar Counties. Some of the heaviest damage was in Hamilton, where structural damage was reported along Military Street. Winds gusted to 69 mph there. There were several reports of trees down across the Tennessee Valley as well.

MEMORIAL DAY FORECAST: With the good (the rain), we must take the bad, with the impacts on our holiday weekend activities. The SPC has the northern three fourths of the state in a marginal risk outlook for severe weather today and tonight. The risk areas shift to the south on Monday, to the south of the stalled front.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The outflow boundary from last night’s storms in in deep South Alabama late this morning. This boundary has cleared out the low clouds over North and Central Alabama. High clouds are blowing across the state from thunderstorms over Southwest Mississippi. Temperatures will warm quickly into the middle and upper 80s this afternoon and things should remain dry. If any storm does manage to develop, it will be strong, with the potential for hail and damaging winds. Severe storms will form over Texas this afternoon. Those storms will push into Alabama before sunrise tomorrow. They will have the potential to produce damaging winds and hail, especially across West Alabama.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP: The SEC Tournament Championship Game will be today at 2 p.m. The weather should be perfect! Also, for the first time ever, you can take advantage of the Hoover Metropolitan Complex which will feature a free, indoor Fan Fest – ferris wheel, sports bar and much more! Tickets start at only $9.

FOR MEMORIAL DAY: It appears there may be another break during the mid to late morning tomorrow, but additional showers and storms will form ahead of the slowly approaching cold front. These showers and storms could once again become severe with damaging winds and hail possible Highs tomorrow will be a little lower, in the lower 80s generally, with the clouds and increased showers.

DANCING WITH THE STATS: Orlando has only picked up 2.18 inches of rain so far this spring. They are running 6.6 inches behind for the past twelve months. The drought has been slow to ease across Florida, unlike Alabama, where significant relief has been enjoyed this month. The good news is that wetter weather is in store for Florida and Alabama. The European long term ensembles call for 7-9 inches of rain across Central Alabama between now and the Fourth of July.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS