Wet At Times Through Friday

RADAR CHECK: Tropical showers are moving northwest across Alabama this afternoon… very little lightning; just heavy rain in spots.

Temperatures are in the 80s, with a mix of sun, clouds, and showers. We will maintain the chance of a few showers tonight as moisture continues to increase thanks to an upper low over the northern Gulf of Mexico.

TOMORROW THROUGH FRIDAY: On these three days, the sky will be occasionally cloudy with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. The bulk of the showers will come during the afternoon and evening hours, but some late night and morning rain can’t be ruled out. Highs will be in the 80-84 degree range in most communities with only a limited amount of sunshine.

THE WEEKEND: Saturday remains a challenging forecast, but we will lean toward a drier solution, as suggested by the European model (ECMWF). It pushes dry air into the northern half of the state Saturday, with the bulk of the showers and thunderstorms mainly south of Montgomery/U.S. 80. The cold front is being supported by a very deep upper trough, and that promises to bring the coolest air so far this season to the state by Sunday. A good chance we drop into the mid 50s early Sunday morning… then the day Sunday will be delightful with a sunny sky, lower humidity, and highs only in the mid to upper 70s.

The coolest morning will be early Monday, when some of the colder valleys across North Alabama could reach the upper 40s. Dry weather will continue through the day Monday, and into Tuesday as well. See the Weather Xtreme video for maps, graphics, and more details.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: You will need to take the rain gear for the high school games Thursday and Friday night, with a chance of showers and storms statewide. Temperatures will be generally in the 70s.

Alabama hosts Middle Tennessee State at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon; kickoff is at 3:00. It now looks like the showers will over by kickoff; the sky will become mostly fair during the game, with temperatures falling from the low 80s at kickoff, into the mid 70s by the final whistle.

Auburn plays their first game of the season at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday against Jacksonville State; kickoff is at 11:00. Showers are possible during the first half of the game, but the second half should be dry. Temperatures will hover around 80 degrees during the game.

TROPICAL UPDATE: Grace was downgraded to a tropical depression in the Central Atlantic earlier today; it is expected to dissipate within the next 24 hours, well before reaching the Lesser Antilles due to dry air and shear.

We do note the 12Z run of the ECMWF develops a tropical system south of the Louisiana coast in 10 days; this is total voodoo for now, but the pattern favors something like that. Seems like any tropical action this year will have to be “home grown”, developing in the Gulf of Mexico as opposed to the deep tropics.

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Tags: ANC, showers

Category: Alabama's Weather