A Sunny and Cool Afternoon in Store; Watch the Gulf for a New Tropical Storm to Form

By Scott Martin and Bill Murray

WEATHER FOR THE REST OF YOUR THURSDAY
Skies will continue to stay generally sunny throughout the remainder of the afternoon and into the early evening hours. Winds will be out of the north at around 5-10 MPH with afternoon highs reaching the mid-60s to the lower 70s across the area. For tonight, skies will start off mostly clear but will become partly cloudy during the overnight hours. Lows will drop into the lower 40s to right at 50 degrees across the area.

A FEW CLOUDS ON FRIDAY, WITH RAIN CHANCES ARRIVING LATE
Temperatures will only be a few degrees warmer on Friday but we will have to deal with a few clouds throughout the day. Skies will be partly cloudy with highs reaching the lower 70s across the area. It could be a bit breezy, with winds occasionally gusting to 10-15 mph. Expect partly cloudy skies Friday night, but a few showers could show up during the evening hours across Central Alabama, witha better chance south of Montgomery

MOSTLY CLOUDY, BREEZY ON SATURDAY
The day will dawn with partly cloudy skies along and north of I-59, with increasing cloudiness the further southeast you go. Skies will become mostly cloudy through the day over all areas but extreme western Alabama. Areas east of I-65 will have about a 40-50% chance of seeing rain Saturday.
Western areas will see little if any rain. Winds will begin gusting to 20-25 mph at times during the morning Saturday, continuing over eastern Alabama during the afternoon, before diminishing during the evening. Saturday hights will be in the upper 60s to lower 70s. Skies will begin clearing Saturday night with lows in the middle and upper 50s.

SUNNY SUNDAY
Sunday is shaping up to be a beautiful day across the state with lots of sunshine light winds and highs in the upper 70s. Just about perfect!

NEXT WEEK
An approaching front will bring rain and storms to Alabama Monday night into early Tuesday. A few storms could be strong. Monday highs will be in the upper 70s to near 80F again. Lows Monday night will drop into the 50s. High pressure will take over in the wake of the front, and the rest of the week should be seasonally mild with highs in the upper 60s and lower 70s. Lows will be in the 40s and 50s.

VOODOOLAND
Out at the end of the period comes our next rain event, around Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th. Storms will be involved, although they don’t look severe at this time.

EYES ON WHAT WILL BE NESTOR
We are watching Potential Tropical Cyclone Number 16 in the Gulf. The thunderstorm activity associated with the low-pressure center over the Bay of Campeche is still disorganized, but it is expected to become Tropical Storm Nestor later today. The system will move toward the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend area. It will have little impact on Central Alabama’s weather but will bring wind, rain and storm surge to the Gulf Coast. Rainfall of 2-4 inches is expected all along the Mississippi, Alabama, and western Florida Coast. Winds will reach Tropical Storm Force in places along the Gulf Coast from generally Destin eastward and around to the Tampa Bay area. They still might reach Tropical Storm force for the Alabama coast and areas from Pensacola to Destin if a more western track materializes, which is still a possibility. Storm surge will be 1-2 feet west of Destin, and 2-5 feet east of Destin to Clearwater, with the higher levels from Appalachicola east.

We will have more details in a special update around 1:30 p.m.

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Tropical