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Midday Nowcast: Tons of Sunshine; Iota Weakening

| November 17, 2020 @ 11:50 am

NEW DAY, SAME FORECAST: Another cold morning for North/Central Alabama, but again, under a cloud-free cobalt blue sky, temperatures are warming up into the lower 60s this afternoon.

Another front is dropping south through the state today, coming through in dry fashion, and it will reinforce the dry, fall air in place across the state. Tonight will be another cold one, with widespread lower 30s expected, with many 20s expected as well, so expect a freeze and areas of frost tomorrow morning. And we note the NWS has issued a freeze warning for several counties across Central Alabama for overnight tonight.

REST OF THIS WEEK: Sunshine will remain in full supply each day, while nights will be clear and cold. Highs tomorrow and Thursday should be in the lower to mid 60s, while lows climb from the 30s into the 40s. By Friday, under a sky full of sunshine, and our flow switching out of the southeast, our highs should approach 70 degrees for many locations.

IOTA MOVING INLAND: Iota made landfall overnight as a devastating category 4 storm with winds of 155 mph. This system is rapidly weakening today as it moves across Central America, but still will be causing issues for days. Latest update has the system back down to Tropical Storm intensity. Iota is moving toward the west near 12 mph. The storm will move farther inland across northern Nicaragua today, and move across southern Honduras tonight before dissipating near El Salvador early Wednesday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 65 mph with higher gusts. Iota should weaken to a tropical depression this evening, and degenerate into a remnant low pressure area on Wednesday. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles. The estimated minimum central pressure is 988 mb (29.18 inches).

ELSEWHERE IN THE TROPICS: A broad area of low pressure could form in a couple of days over the southwestern Caribbean Sea. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for slow development, and a tropical depression could form by the weekend while the system moves slowly westward or west-southwestward across the southwestern Caribbean Sea. Regardless of development, areas of heavy rain are possible during the next several days from Nicaragua southward across Central America and into Colombia. These rains could cause new flooding concerns, especially across previously inundated areas. Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent. If this system develops, which it may, it would be Kappa.

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 visiting.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 109.0F at Roebourne Aero, Australia. The lowest observation was -53.5F at Dome A, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 97F at Santee, CA. The lowest observation was -3F at Peter Sinks, UT.

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Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS

About the Author ()

Macon, Georgia Television Chief Meteorologist, Birmingham native, and long time Contributor on AlabamaWX. Stormchaser. I did not choose Weather, it chose Me. College Football Fanatic. @Ryan_Stinnet

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