Low Humidity Another Day

| May 20, 2007 @ 7:22 am | 8 Replies

The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…

We need rain desperately, but there is no relief in the foreseeable future. Air quality is in the moderate category today and flirting with the unhealthy category. And with no rain in sight, the air quality is not likely to get better soon.

Low humidity will be with us today and Monday but the humidity will be gradually increasing along with temperatures. By Tuesday we should be back into the mid 80s with dew points back into the 50s.

The GFS continues to show a wedge or backdoor cold front in the Wednesday/Thursday time frame with the surface high centered off to the northeast of us. The GFS seems to be generating a little rain with that feature, but I’m thinking that the atmosphere is just too dry for much more than clouds with that feature. The easterly flow should cut a few degrees off the highs dropping them back to 80 or so – maybe even upper 70s for East Central Alabama.

As the surface high edges out into the Atlantic and the upper ridge holds tough, a strong trough over the Rockies will bump northeast away from us. This should drop a cold front into the Ohio Valley, but the front is not expected to reach North Alabama. With the high off to the east and an open Gulf, we should begin to see some widely scattered showers.

Holy rain soaking, Batman, what is that? On Monday, May 28, just in time for the start of hurricane season, the GFS develops a weak low in the western Caribbean and moves it across the Gulf to the Florida Panhandle. This looks great for a thirsty Southeast US where we are in great need of rain. A weak depression would certainly bring beneficial rain without the wind and weather associated with a full blown hurricane or tropical storm. But we’ve edged over into voodoo land, so I’m not necessarily buying this solution yet. The GFS has been hinting at some nervousness in the tropics, and this might be it. On one hand, as a scientist, I don’t have a great deal of confidence in solutions this far out. But as one who wants to see the water supply situation improve, I’m very hopeful. IF (notice the big letters) the GFS is right about this, we could be looking at putting a sizeable dent in the drought. Definitely time to invoke the “stay tuned” mantra.

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and a wonderful week. I’m very excited about the upcoming week because I’m headed camping. Going to hit the road with the travel trailer and enjoy some of the natural beauty of Alabama – that translates to sitting in the shade and watching the world go by!! James will be back tomorrow morning bright and early with the next Weather Xtreme Video. God bless.

-Brian-

Category: Uncategorized

About the Author ()

Brian Peters is one of the television meteorologists at ABC3340 in Birmingham and a retired NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist. He handles the weekend Weather Xtreme Videos and forecast discussion and is the Webmaster for the popular WeatherBrains podcast.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.