Tropical Storm Chris Bringing Us A Small Touch Of Relief At Midday

CONDITIONS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA AT 12:15 PM

As you can possibly tell outside at midday, it does feel just a touch cooler and a tad less humid on your Monday across parts of Central Alabama. Temperatures are currently running in the mid-80s in the northern half of the area, with mid to upper 80s in the south. Dewpoints are running a little less today as well, and there is a good explanation for that coming up in the next section of my post. You can just thank Tropical Storm Chris for that.

As far as rainfall is concerned across the area, only very spotty showers are dotting the radar in the extreme western and southern parts of the area with no lightning activity showing up at all at this point. While showers may grow in coverage some during the day, don’t expect too much activity east of a line from Hamilton to Birmingham to Phenix City.

HOW TROPICAL CYCLONES OFF OF THE ATLANTIC COAST CAN HELP BRING SOME RELIEF

With Tropical Storm Chris hanging around off of the North Carolina coastline, it is actually bringing some slight relief to parts of Alabama today. Looking at the precipitable water image above, you can clearly see how the winds on the left side of the storm is bringing much drier air southward. If you look at Alabama, the northeast 1/4 of the state has much drier, air roughly north of a line from Muscle Shoals to Birmingham to Phenix City, with PWAT values ranging from 1.00 inches to 1.90 inches (light blue to light green in color). The rest of the state ranges from 2.00-2.20 inches (yellow to orange in color). This generally means that you will have a lesser chance in showers and storms this afternoon in the lower PWAT values than the higher PWATs.

FORECAST FOR THE REST OF YOUR MONDAY
With that drier air being pulled into the northeastern parts of the state, there will be a very small chance of isolated showers and storms this afternoon for locations east of I-65 and north of I-85… roughly 20% and less as you move northeastward. West of I-65 and south of I-85, there will be a chance of scattered afternoon showers and storms, with chances increasing as you move southwest… roughly 30-50%. Afternoon highs will top out in the upper 80s to the lower 90s. For this evening and into the late night and overnight hours, there is a small chance for some shower activity to continue for a little while over the western parts of the state, mainly along and west of I-65. East of I-65 shall remain dry with partly cloudy skies. Lows will be in the upper 60s to the lower 70s.

MUCH OF THE SAME STORY FOR TUESDAY
Slightly drier air will continue to be pulled into the north and eastern parts of Central Alabama tomorrow, mainly keeping locations east of I-65 dry throughout the day. The rest of the area will have a chance for isolated to scattered afternoon showers and storm, with chances increasing as you move west. Afternoon highs will be back in the hot category, reaching the lower to mid-90s. Any shower or storm activity should start to diminish in coverage greatly after we lose the heating of the day for the evening and late night hours, and much of the area will be dry throughout the late night and overnight hours. Overnight lows will be in the lower to mid-70s.

LOOK BEFORE YOU LOCK
Never leave children, disabled or elderly adults, or pets in parked vehicles. Studies have shown that the temperature inside a parked vehicle can rapidly rise to a dangerous level for children, pets and even adults. Leaving the windows slightly open does not significantly decrease the heating rate. The effects can be more severe on children because their bodies have not developed the ability to efficiently regulate internal temperature. Heat related deaths are preventable, so look before you lock.

AN UPDATE ON THE TROPICS

Tropical Storm Chris continues to strengthen as he sits over the warm Gulf Stream waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. Additional strengthening is expected to happen and more than likely become a hurricane within the next 24 hours. A trough is expected to move toward the storm and cause Chris to start moving away to the northeast. By the end of the week, Chris will be caught up in the strong mid-latitude flow and will accelerate quickly in forward speed. No threat to the US Mainland at this point.

The remnants of Beryl has become really disorganized and has transformed into an open wave. There is the possibility of reorganization and reforming into a tropical cyclone once the system moves through the Bahamas, but the chances of that are slim to none. We’ll keep an eye on it just in case.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER
Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Fort Morgan to Panama City on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in.

ON THIS DAY IN WEATHER HISTORY
1987 – Thunderstorms produced severe weather in Michigan. A tornado near Munising, MI, destroyed part of a commercial dog kennel, and one of the missing dogs was later found unharmed in a tree top half a mile away.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS