Wet Morning

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Be sure to scroll down for some pictures from yesterday’s severe weather event… and as always you can see all of the images on our Flickr feed here.

RIGHT NOW: A tornado watch remains in effect until 9:00 for parts of South Alabama… generally south of a line from Chatom to Camden to Luverne. Monroe County was under a tornado warning a little earlier this morning, and strong storms continue to rumble through that severe weather watch. Around here, some healthy showers and storms have been moving in the general area along I-20 during the pre-dawn hours with heavy downpours in spots. I have picked up almost one inch of rain since midnight in North Shelby County.

LATER TODAY: SPC has defined the primary severe weather risk in Alabama today over the southern counties, along and south of U.S. 80, where the air will be most unstable south of a stalled surface boundary. We could see additional showers and storms here later today, but we believe the best chance of severe weather will stay down across South Alabama.

REST OF THIS WEEK: At this time it looks like a pretty decent part of the day tomorrow will be dry as we get a break in the action, but a severe weather risk has been defined for much of North Alabama on Wednesday as another wave tracks along the stalled surface boundary. Looks like we might be working more severe storms Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday evening as they develop and slowly drop southward.

Then, the showers should thin out a bit Thursday, but the GFS is suggesting yet another wave Friday for the northern counties of the state with a chance of more thunderstorms. We are right on the southern edge of the mid-latitude westerlies, and timing out the various waves is difficult to do days in advance. But, at this point, after today it looks like the best coverage of showers and storms will come on Wednesday, and then again on Friday.

WHAT ABOUT THE WEEKEND: A strong upper ridge tries to nose in here over the weekend, and if that is correct our weather will trend warmer and drier on Saturday and Sunday. A few showers or storms are still possible Saturday, but at this point Sunday looks dry and warm with highs well up into the 80s.

LONG RANGE: Global models are showing the primary storm track shifting north during the mid-month period, suggesting generally warm and drier weather for Alabama. But, May is a time when instability values are pretty high on daily basis with the warmer afternoons, and some risk of an afternoon storm is hard to rule out when the dewpoints are high.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We will record this week’s new episode tomorrow night.

TWITTER: Don’t forget, you can follow our news and weather updates from ABC 33/40 on Twitter here. And, my personal Twitter feed is here if you want to keep up with my adventures in life. Twitter is a short messaging service you can receive via the web, cell phone, or IM.

SPECIAL ABC 33/40 NOAA WEATHER RADIO OFFER: You can purchase the WR-100 Midland NOAA Weather Radio, the best selling model in the nation, at any Publix or Handy TV location in this part of Alabama for only $29.95. These receivers have the new digital technology that allows you to choose the counties for which the alarm sounds. Every Alabama home and business needs one!

Jason Simpson will be picking up my school program this morning at Meadow View Elementary School… my voice is still only about 40 percent good this morning; still fighting laryngitis. I will have the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon… enjoy the day!

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