Dry Days Ahead; Warm Next Week

**No afternoon Weather Xtreme video today… I am live on ABC 33/40 at Regions Field for the annual Birmingham Barons Severe Weather Awareness night**

FINE DAY: Lots of sunshine across Alabama this afternoon with only a field of flat cumulus clouds; temperatures are in the low 70s. The Alabama weekend looks delightful; expect sunshine in full supply tomorrow and Sunday. The high tomorrow will be in the 75-78 degree range; Sunday will be a bit cooler with a high closer to 70.

RACE WEEKEND: The weather could not be any better for the weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway. Sunny tomorrow and Sunday; temperatures reach the mid 70s tomorrow followed by a high near 70 Sunday for the Geico 500.

MULLET TOSS: The annual event at the Flora-Bama draws huge crowds, and the weekend on the Gulf Coast will be spectacular. Sunny days, fair nights through Sunday with highs in the 70s. Water temperatures in the Gulf are running in the mid 70s.

NEXT WEEK: A building upper ridge will keep Alabama dry most of the week with warmer afternoons. In fact, it will be the warmest week so far this year. Monday’s high will be in the upper 70s, followed by low 80s Tuesday, and mid 80s Wednesday through Friday. Severe storms will likely break out across the Central U.S. by mid-week, but the trough responsible for those active storms will weaken and lift well north of Alabama late in the week. A few showers could reach Northwest Alabama Friday, but much of the state should remain warm and dry.

ON THIS DATE SEVEN YEARS AGO: A generational tornado outbreak for Alabama. A total of 62 tornadoes, responsible for 252 deaths and over 2,000 injuries. A morning round of storms with damaging winds and tornadoes was responsible for knocking out power to almost a quarter of a million people in the state. But it got even more serious later in the day.

There were three EF-5 tornadoes… one of them slammed into Hackleburg, destroying subdivisions, Hackleburg High School and the Wranger Plant. It continues on, with wind speeds reaching 210 m.p.h., leaving a trail of devastation in Phil Campbell and Tanner. The storm travels approximately 132 miles through six counties, killing 72 people and inflicting $1.2 billion in damage.

The EF-4 that moved through Tuscaloosa, and communities around the Birmingham metro like Concord, Pleasant Grove, and Pratt City, killed 65 and injured over 1,500. Another EF-4 tore through Cullman; it was on the ground for 47 miles.

One thing we learned that day… physical science is not enough. The loss of life was incredibly high despite excellent warnings for all 62 tornadoes. Social science knowledge must be blended in to make the warning process better.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

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I enjoyed seeing the students at Memorial Park Elementary in Jasper this morning… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News! My next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here Monday morning by 7:00 a.m…. Brian Peters will have the video updates tomorrow and Sunday. Enjoy the weekend!

Tags: ANC, dry

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS