Dry Pattern Setting Up For Alabama

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NO RAIN FOR A WHILE: A drier airmass pushed into Alabama last night, and it looks like a pretty benign weather pattern ahead for the state through the weekend. Mostly sunny warm days, lower humidity, and clear cool nights. Afternoon highs will be in the 80s; our coolest morning will come early tomorrow when most communities will enjoy a low between 58 and 63 degrees.

The only potential issue comes Friday with a cold air damming pattern sets up east of the state; we will have to keep an eye on clouds and cooler temperatures over Georgia and the Carolinas; that could creep into extreme East Alabama, but for now we will make the assumption the wedge won’t impact our state.

LATE IN THE WEEKEND: A cold front will approach, and we will mention the risk of a few widely scattered showers Sunday night as the weekend wraps up, but moisture looks very limited and it sure won’t be a big rain event. We will hang on to the risk of isolated showers Monday, and then a cooler, drier airmass arrives Monday night, setting up some very pleasant fall weather for the middle of next week with highs around 80 and lows in the 50s. See the Weather Xtreme video for the maps, graphics, and details.

DRY TIME OF THE YEAR: September-October is our driest two month period of the year in Alabama based on climatological averages; the average rain for September is 4.05″, with an average of just 3.23″ in October (for Birmingham). So long dry periods like this are fairly common this time of the year.

We should mention Birmingham’s rain total for the year is 34.50″, 4.66″ below average.

THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: Looks like we can remove any threat of rain from tomorrow night’s Auburn/Kansas State football game in Manhattan, Kansas (6:30p CT kickoff). The sky will be mostly fair, the temperature will fall from around 77 degrees at kickoff, into the low 70s by the final whistle.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Clear weather for the high school football games in Alabama Thursday and Friday night; temperatures will be in the upper 70s at kickoff, falling into the low 70s by the fourth quarter. No threat of rain or lightning delays this week.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND: Alabama will host Florida at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon (2:30p CT kickoff)… the sky will be mostly sunny with a kickoff temperature near 85 degrees, falling into the upper 70s by the final whistle.

TROPICS: Hurricane Edouard is now weakening as it recurves into the open Atlantic… far from land. Top winds are down to 90 mph. Tropical Storm Odile in the northern Gulf of California has the potential to bring flooding rain to Arizona and New Mexico through tomorrow. And, Tropical Storm Polo is in the East Pacific off the Mexican coast, but this one looks like it will miss Cabo San Lucas to the west this weekend thankfully.

GULF COAST WEATHER: Mostly sunny days and fair nights on the coast from Panama City to Gulf Shores through the weekend with only isolated showers Saturday and Sunday. Highs will be in the mid to upper 80s, and the sea water temperature early this morning at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab is 85 degrees.

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I will be doing a severe weather safety program this morning at ALAGASCO in Gadsden… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 4:00 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!

Tags: dry

Category: Alabama's Weather