April Showers Bring May Flowers

If April showers bring May flowers, Birmingham will be able to open a florist this month. That piece of familiar weather folklore is playing out to be very true this year for us. Birmingham recorded its 6th wettest April ever with 10.24 inches of rain, 3.51 inches below the all time record of 13. 75 recorded in April 1979. It rained on 15 days during the month, against the long term average of 9.1 days. Thunder was reported on 11 days, against the average of 5.0.

Now, as we have turned the page to May, drier and warmer conditions will be the theme over the first fifteen days of the month. Here is a look at the long term climatological averages day by day for May at Birmingham.

It is a picture perfect early May day across Central Alabama. Scattered cumulus clouds were starting to form after a nearly cloud free morning. A thin arc of clouds was evident along a little convergence zone that has sagged down into Northwest Alabama from a disturbance north of Nashville. The nearest precipitation to Birmingham is a few light showers over Kentucky, accompanying that disturbance.

The mercury was climbing through the middle 70s across the I-20 corridor, heading for highs in the lower 80s. Dewpoints are low, in the upper 40s, so it feels quite nice. But keep the sunscreen handy, as that strong May sun can burn a lot. And stay hydrated too. With the low humidity, you can sweat a lot without realizing it.

Nearly perfect, albeit eventually a bit warm, weather is in store for this week across Central Alabama. This week’s temperature graph looks like an EKG with nearly steady highs around 80F and lows around 60F through midweek. After that, the mercury will get a little more excited, with highs trending into the middle and upper 80s by next weekend with lows in the middle 60s. Dewpoints will be rising as well, from the 50s early in the week, to the muggy 60s by next weekend. A few showers and storms could creep back into the forecast by this weekend, but chances will be small until early the following week, around Tuesday the 12th.

Category: Alabama's Weather