A Few Showers, A Little Drought, Tropical Trouble and Heat Out West

Lots to talk about on the early June Sunday, including a developing tropical storm in the Gulf, record heat in the west, and little relief for our worsening drought. Let’s get to it.

ALABAMA’S WEATHER

A warm and humid airmass covers Alabama this afternoon. Temperatures are in the 70s and so are the dewpoints, which makes for muggy conditions. Skies are mostly cloudy, although the sun was starting to peek out in spots. A little sunshine will push temperatures into the lower 80s this afternoon and will help to trigger scattered showers and storms. Showers and some thunder were developing over northern Mississippi near a stationary front and in association with a developing upper level wind maximum that is forming over eastern Mississippi and western Alabama. This front will eventually push through the area tomorrow giving us a nice Tuesday – Sunday.

TD #3

Tropical depression number three formed this morning over the southern Gulf of Mexico and it won’t take very much for it to become Tropical Storm Colin. In fact, Air Force reconnaissance is winging ts way there as I write this to check on that possibility. When It becomes a tropical storm it will be named Colin. The system is moving northward for now but will turn northeast, reaching the Florida Big Bend area tomorrow evening, and crossing North Florida into South Georgia. Colin will bring heavy rains of 3-4 inches, 40-50 mph winds and tornadoes to North Florida. It will not directly affect Alabama’s weather except for rough surf and high rip current threats along the beaches of Alabama and Northwest Florida.

DANCING WITH THE STATS

Boy it is hot out west! 115F yesterday at Phoenix was a record for June 4th. It was 118F at Needles CA, one of the hottest I could find. There were tons of records in the Pacific Northwest, including 98F at Portland. The 87F at Astoria OR, one of my favorite places, was a record for the date. There are heat advisories all over the Northwest, with excessive heat warnings for the Desert Southwest.

DROUGHTWATCH

The northern half of Alabama is in drought conditions now according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Full D1-D2 conditions (moderate to severe drought) exist generally northeast of US-78/280. Dr. John Christy’s Lawn and Garden Index indicates that most of Central Alabama needs 1-2 inches of rain right now to for lawns and gardens. We might be lucky and get another half inch generally this afternoon.

Category: Alabama's Weather, Severe Weather