Hold On To Your Hats At Midday, At Least It’s Mostly Sunny And Warm

CONDITIONS AT 11:15 AM CDT
We continue to have plenty of sunshine across Central Alabama as we are approaching the midday hour, but we can see clouds starting to form over the eastern half of the area. We could see some shower activity form in the eastern half later this afternoon and evening, but those chances are small at this point. The good news is that there is nothing on the radar as of now. Temperatures are up in the upper 70s to the lower 80s but those will rise into the lower to mid-80s this afternoon. We’ll have to watch for windy conditions as we are seeing sustained winds around 10-20 MPH and gusting as high as 35 MPH due to a tightening pressure gradient from an approaching front.

WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN PARTS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA
A Wind Advisory is in effect for Blount, Cherokee, Etowah, Fayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker, and Winston counties in Central Alabama until 7:00 pm CDT tonight.

NOT TOO BAD FOR THE REST OF YOUR THURSDAY
We will have some increase in clouds throughout the rest of your afternoon. It will be quite windy over the northern parts of the area as winds could gust as high as 35 MPH at times. While much of Central Alabama will stay dry, there may be a few isolated showers pop up mainly in the eastern half of the area during the latter part of the afternoon and through the evening and into the late night hours. Afternoon highs top out in the lower to mid-80s across the area. For this evening and through the late night and overnight hours, any showers over the eastern parts of the area will push off into Georgia before midnight while a line of showers and a few thunderstorms will move into the western parts of the area just before sunrise. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s to the lower 60s.

SHOWERS & SOME THUNDER POSSIBLE ON FRIDAY
The line of showers will be pushing into the western portions of Central Alabama just before sunrise and will move through the western half during the morning hours. After that, the line fizzles out but a few stray showers will be left over, mainly affecting the locations along the I-59 corridor. Another band of showers and a few rumbles of thunder will form north of that across the northwestern parts of the area and up into North Alabama later in the afternoon that will persist through the late night and overnight hours. Afternoon highs will be in the mid-70s to the lower 80s with lows in the upper 50s to the lower 60s. Locations along and south of the I-85 corridor may stay dry throughout the whole day.

SEVERE STORM POTENTIAL THIS WEEKEND
We continue to have a threat of severe storms this weekend that now looks to be from late Saturday night through the afternoon hours on Sunday. We’ll start off Saturday with showers and a few thunderstorms over the northern two-thirds of Central Alabama that will be in the process of moving northward as a warm front begins to move through the area. We’ll be dry throughout the afternoon and evening hours with some breaks in the cloud cover that could help warm the atmosphere and allow instability to climb some. Highs on Saturday will be in the mid-70s to the mid-80s.

The main line of strong to possibly severe storms will move into the western parts of the area around 3:00 am to 6:00 am time frame, but there is the possibility of supercells forming out ahead of the line. The window for strong to severe storms across the area looks to be from 12:00 am to around 4:00 pm at this point, but we can better refine that timing as the high-resolution model solutions begin to come in. All modes of severe weather will be possible, with tornadoes and damaging winds being the main threats. NWS Birmingham has all of Central Alabama in a Slight Risk at this point, but that may be upgraded to an Enhanced Risk within the next 24-48 hours if needed. Highs will be in the upper 60s to the mid-70s.

If you do not have a weather emergency supply kit ready to go, now is the time to make one. Have a safety plan ready to act if your location goes under a warning, and talk it over with family members to make sure they know what to do. Never rely on sirens for your source of receiving warnings. Enable the WEAs (Wireless Emergency Alerts) on your cellphones and have an NOAA WeatherRadio for the home. Download the ABC 33/40 app on your mobile device so you can watch live tornado coverage from your safe place if you go under a warning. Be sure to read our Severe Weather Safety Guidelines page on what to do before and during a severe weather event. We’ll have updates throughout the week on this developing situation.

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.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS