Upper Trough Weakens

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

A couple of small, subtle changes are occurring in the weather pattern which should mean less showers for the forecast for a couple of days. First, some slightly drier air to the north will slowly slide into North and Central Alabama. Second, the pesky upper trough which has been sliding back and forth across the area will weaken as we come more under a northwesterly flow aloft. Both of these combine to suppress most shower development across North and Central Alabama and keep the focus for isolated showers across South Alabama where the deeper moisture will continue to reside.

Temperatures will push upward slightly as a result with highs mainly in the 90 to 94 range for much of the week ahead.

While school is getting ready to start for some this week, beach goers enjoying the Alabama coast will see scattered showers a possibility each day with highs in the upper 80s. Water temperatures still running in the lower to middle 80s in the Gulf along the coast.

The trough that has helped to keep our weather somewhat unsettled weakens in the week ahead and slides further eastward resulting in more of a northwesterly flow for us. This should help to keep the moisture down somewhat until later in the week when values creep back upward. Also that northwesterly flow brings the potential for large thunderstorm clusters to develop in the Central Plains and move southeastward into the Southeast US. No real skill in identifying one of these more than a several hours in advance, but being aware of the pattern helps to keep us ready if a forecast adjustment becomes needed.

Tropics are quiet outside of Bertha which is likely to become a hurricane on Tuesday as it moves northward away from the Bahamas. The storm continues to be well behaved as it traverses the western Atlantic between the eastern US trough and the subtropical high over the Central Atlantic. This keeps the storm a threat primarily to shipping interests for the western and northern Atlantic and away from land.

Week two or voodoo country still showing no sign of extreme heat with the possibility of another strong trough deepening across the eastern half of the US around the middle of August. With the pattern we’ve seen much of the summer, I do not plan to bet against this outcome!

And you can follow news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. Stay in the know by following the whole gang – here’s the list…

The next Weather Xtreme Video will come Tuesday morning as we stay on a one-a-day schedule while James is on vacation. Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather