Still Cool for July

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From the National Weather Service, we note that there were several record low maximum temperature values set in Central Alabama yesterday.

SITE        JULY 18 HIGH  OLD MINIMUM HIGH  YEAR
----------  ------------  ----------------  ----
ANNISTON         80               82        2009
BIRMINGHAM       76               79        1906
TUSCALOOSA       75               86        2012

Yesterday was not your typical July day with clouds and widespread rain over Alabama keeping temperatures in record territory. The heaviest rain was over the northern and western counties where some spots received over one inch of beneficial rain. Many places saw around half an inch of rain.

A weak surface low was situated over Northeast Mississippi this morning, as the upper trough supporting the rain will weaken over the weekend bringing showers and thunderstorms down to more scattered variety with the better rain chances across East and South Alabama. The sun will peek out at times today, and the afternoon will be warmer as our high returns to the mid 80s.

Sunday should be brighter and drier with a mix of sun and clouds and a few scattered showers and thunderstorms. The high Sunday should be up in the mid to upper 80s as we dig out of the “July deep freeze”, as James dubbed it.

The weather returns to more of a summertime routine for the first half of the week with partly sunny weather Monday through Wednesday with the usual risk of scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs should be in the 87 to 90 degree range. Once again the GFS is signaling an increase in showers and storms over the latter half of the week as another a surface boundary approaches from the north. Fronts typically do not reach the Southeastern US in mid summer but given the track record of this July, I’ll have to put some weight on this occurring. The ECMWF is also in fairly good agreement on the front approaching, too.

GULF COAST WEATHER: Showers and storms are likely today with only limited sunshine, but look for improving weather Sunday and into next week with about 6 to 8 hours of sunshine each day along with a few scattered thunderstorms. Highs will be in the mid 80s today, with upper 80s Sunday through much of next week along the immediate coast from Panama City over to Gulf Shores. Sea water temperatures are mostly in the lower 80s.

TROPICS: The Atlantic basin is still very quiet, and tropical storm formation is not expected for the next five days. There remains a steady train of tropical systems in the western Pacific.

Voodoo country continues to stick with the idea of the trough in the East and the ridge in the West which keeps the summer heat away from us.

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I plan to post the next Weather Xtreme Video on Sunday morning. Enjoy another cooler July day. Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather