Only Isolated Showers Today; Warmer Days Ahead

ON THE MAPS: A deep upper low continues to spin away over Tennessee this morning; this feature will keep temperatures over the northern half of Alabama below average today; most places will stay under 80 degrees. The average high for Birmingham on May 20 is 82. A few isolated showers could form this afternoon, but odds of any one spot getting wet are only 10/20 percent.

REST OF THE WEEK: Temperatures will gradually warm up; we expect a high in the low 80s tomorrow, followed by mid 80s Friday. With the increased warmth comes higher instability values, and that could lead to a slow increase in the number of scattered showers or storms, especially by Friday. Otherwise, look for partly sunny days and mostly fair nights.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: We are forecasting highs in the mid to upper 80s over the weekend, and the risk of random, scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms will remain in the forecast. You will see this most every day from now through summer… odds of any one community getting wet will be around 40 percent Saturday and Sunday. Most of the showers will come from 1:00 until 9:00 p.m., and there isn’t any way of knowing in advance exactly when and where they pop up. You just have to watch radar trends.

NEXT WEEK: Classic late May weather continues with warm, humid days and a few scattered showers and storms around on a daily basis. Highs will remain mostly in the mid to upper 80s… See the Weather Xtreme video for maps, graphics, and more details.

RAIN UPDATE: Here are rain totals for the year so far, and the departure from average…

Birmingham 39.94″ +17.86″
Muscle Shoals 37.81″ +16.29″
Anniston 37.68″. +16.31″
Tuscaloosa 37.44″ +15.60″
Huntsville 36.93″ +14.39″
Montgomery 28.09″ +5.98″
Mobile 15.94″ -8.83″

ON THIS DATE IN 1957: A tornado touched down to the southwest of Kansas City and traveled a distance of seventy-one miles cutting a swath of near destruction through the southeastern suburbs of Ruskin Heights and Hickman Mills. The tornado claimed the lives of forty-five persons and left hundreds homeless. It was the worst weather disaster on record for Kansas City.

ON THIS DATE IN 2013: A large and extremely powerful EF5 tornado ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, with peak winds estimated at 210 mph, killing 24 people and injuring 212 others. The tornado touched down just northwest of Newcastle, and stayed on the ground for 37 minutes over a 17-mile path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. The tornado was 1.08 miles wide at its peak. It followed a roughly similar track to the deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, which was smaller in size but just as severe; however, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools in the area had purpose-built storm shelters in the intervening years since the earlier tornado struck Moore.

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Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 4:00 this afternoon… enjoy the day!

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