Heat Breaking; Tropics Active

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.

The August heat is abating somewhat today thanks to a couple of features. First, a dissipating cluster of thunderstorms that moved into the western sections of the Tennessee River Valley of Alabama early this morning will help to provide some extra clouds. And second, the wedge or cold air damming is bringing a backdoor cold front into Central Alabama from the east. A heat advisory was still in effect for West Central Alabama where heat indices may still approach 105 degrees. But our actual highs will be down a few degrees as this August heat dips a tad. Look for highs to be in the 93 to 97 range with cooler values in the eastern sections. Showers should become likely this afternoon and evening with good moisture in place and the various boundaries adding to the lift. Isolated damaging wind gusts with these storms are possible, but this is not expected to be a major severe weather event.

The backdoor front will push westward helping to dry out our atmosphere plus bring in some cooler air from the east. Storms will be less likely on Monday and I think we dry out for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The upper ridge dampens with time as we proceed through the week. A fairly strong trough will approach the Southeast US in the Thursday/Friday time frame as moisture values come back up. This will produce another chance for showers for Friday and Saturday. But highs are only expected to be in the lower 90s, so no excessive heat returning.

Beach goers should note that there is a heat advisory for Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida. Isolated showers today will become more scattered Monday but still expect to see 4 to 8 hours of sunshine. Highs along the immediate coast will be in the lower 90s. Water temperature at Perdido Pass this morning was 87 degrees.

In the tropics, we’re anxiously watching the development of tropical storm Cristobal. The Hurricane Center anticipates it to intensify slowly and it was named Cristobal in a 7 am CDT advisory. Yesterday there was some concern for a more westward track, but today it appears that there is a weakness in the subtropical ridge which will allow a more north-northwest track today and Monday. This should keep the developing storm further from the coast of Florida and that is surely welcome news.

Looking out into voodoo country and Week 2, the upper air pattern shows a ridge over the Southeast US around the 4th of September with another fairly strong trough moving across the eastern US around the 8th. While the ridge means it will be warm, the ridge does not appear overly large, so I do not expect to see any excessive heat.

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…

James Spann will be up first thing Monday morning with the next edition of the Weather Xtreme Video. Be sure to check with the Blog for the latest weather information for Central Alabama. Have a great day and Godspeed.

-Brian-

Category: Alabama's Weather