Midday Nowcast: No Watering Needed for My Garden Today

In my neighborhood, we have had several rounds of rain and thunderstorms this morning already. My wife is so happy because she doesn’t have to stretch the garden hose out to the garden in oppressive heat to give the growing vegetables their needed water for the day.

At this hour across Central Alabama, areas north of I-20 are covered with clouds and rain, with partly cloudy skies and scattered showers south of that. So far today, the Birmingham International Airport has only received 0.03 inches of rain, but the story is much different in other areas. Gadsden has already picked up 0.97 inches this morning (as of 10:56 AM), Decatur with 0.37 inches, Cullman with 0.89 inches, and Hunstville with 0.86 inches. Some places such as Alexander City, Anniston, and Muscle Shoals have yet to pick up measurable rainfall.

With an unstable airmass in place and with colder air aloft, scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms can be expected throughout the rest of the daylight hours. Looking at the latest HRRR run, PWAT values for most of the area will be at or near 2 inches, so where any heavier storms develop, very heavy rainfall can be expected. The SPC has defined an area south of a line just north of Tuscaloosa over to Gadsden, to north of a line stretching from Troy over to just north of Mobile, under a Marginal Risk for severe storms. Main threats will be from wet microbursts and dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning. Otherwise cloudy to mostly cloudy skies, with afternoon highs staying in the mid to upper 80s north of I-20, with low to mid 90s south of that. Rain will start to diminish early this evening, and will be completely done by midnight.

Most communities in the area that have remained dry so far, their temperatures are already well up into the mid to upper 80s. Areas that have received or are currently getting rain, temperatures are being held back into the upper 70s to the low 80s. Here is a list of temperature observations from across the state:

Birmingham 85
Tuscaloosa 86
Gadsden 82
Anniston 87
Cullman 79
Decatur 81
Huntsville 79
Muscle Shoals 83
Alexander City 88
Montgomery 89

CODE GREEN AIR QUALITY: The Air Quality Index for the Birmingham Metropolitan Area will be in the “Code Green” for both ozone and particulate matter 2.5. No action needed today.

TODAY’S CLIMATOLOGY FOR BIRMINGHAM: The normal high for July 5th is 90, while the normal low is 69. The record high for today was set back in 1948 at 100. The record low was set back in 1972 at 59.

WEDNESDAY’S WEATHER: Shower and thunderstorm chances will be less tomorrow, as they are expected to be more widely spaces and isolated in nature. You have about a one-in-four shot in Central Alabama at getting rain. Otherwise, skies will be partly to mostly clear, and afternoon highs will be in the low to mid 90s.

HEADED TO THE BEACH: Mostly sunny days and fair nights are to be expected from Fort Morgan all the way over to Panama City Beach through the weekend. Just the normal risk of an isolated thunderstorm each day, with highs in the upper 80s to near 90 on the coast, with mid to upper 90s inland. Water temperature at Dauphin Island is 86.2. See a very detailed Gulf Coast forecast here.

THE TROPICS: All remains quiet across the Atlantic basin, and tropical storm formation is not expected this week. The typical peak of the season comes later, in August and September.

WEATHERBRAINS: This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists at ABC 33/40. The show will be produced tonight and will feature a discussion of the West Virginia flood event from a couple of weeks ago. You can listen anytime on the web, or on iTunes. You can find it here.

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Category: Alabama's Weather