Watching The Front Up North
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MUGGY SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON: Another very warm day across Alabama with temperatures close to 90 degrees, and we have a few widely scattered showers and storms over the northern half of the state. The showers aren’t moving much, and will fade away tonight.
Not much weather change tomorrow; partly sunny with a high around 90 and the risk of widely scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms.
THURSDAY/FRIDAY: A cold front will approach the state from the north; this represents the leading edge of much cooler air. Cut Bank, Montana reports 36 degrees with light snow at 2p MT. The front will take it’s time to get here, however, so we stay in moist air on these two days. Scattered showers and storms will gradually increase; looks like the highest coverage of showers and storms will come on Friday, but even then it won’t rain all day. The high will be in the upper 80s Thursday, and mid 80s Friday.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: A very tricky forecast with a well defined surface front somewhere over North Alabama Saturday. Model consistency has not been very good with the frontal position, but it does look like cooler, drier air will cover North Alabama north of U.S. 278 Saturday, so places like Hamilton, Cullman, Gadsden, and points north should enjoy a partly to mostly sunny day with lower humidity. But, from roughly I-59 south, we will need to maintain some risk of a shower or storm. We will have a much higher confidence forecast for Saturday tomorrow as new model data rolls in.
Sunday looks dry for about the northern half of Alabama, with some risk of scattered showers and storms continuing for the southern counties of the state. Highs over the weekend should be in the low to mid 80s.
NEXT WEEK: Looks pretty comfortable, with highs in the low 80s and lows around 60, with upper 50s for cooler spots. The weather should be dry for at least the first half of the week; see the Weather Xtreme video for maps, graphics, and more details.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Again this week we have the risk of a passing shower or storm for high school games Thursday and Friday night. The showers and and storms will be scattered, so it won’t rain everywhere, but a few stadiums could see some rain. Temperatures will be in the mid 80s at kickoff, falling into the upper 70s by the fourth quarter. The chance of any one stadium seeing rain is in the 30 percent range.
Alabama will host Southern Miss Saturday evening (5:00p kickoff) at Bryant-Denny Stadium; just a slight risk of a shower during the first half of the game, otherwise the sky will be generally fair with temperatures falling from 84 degrees at kickoff, into the low 70s by the final whistle.
UAB hosts Alabama A&M Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham at 2:30p; the sky will be partly sunny, and a passing shower or storm is possible during the game. The temperature will be around 86 degrees at kickoff, falling into the upper 70s by the end of the game.
TROPICS: The disturbance over the East Atlantic has a chance of becoming Tropical Storm Edouard in coming days; it will move west/northwest over the open Atlantic, and most likely will recurve before getting close to the U.S. Another weak disturbance is just east of the Bahamas, and development there does not look likely in the short term.
GULF COAST WEATHER: We still project about 6 to 8 hours of sunshine each day through the weekend with the daily risk of scattered showers and storms from Panama City west to Gulf Shores. Highs on the coast will stay in the upper 80s, and sea water temperatures are mostly in the mid 80s.
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I enjoyed seeing the kids today at Cahaba Valley Learning Center in Shelby County… 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…
Category: Alabama's Weather
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James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.Subscribe
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