An Early Morning Look at Alabama’s Weather

A warm, moist, tropical airmass covers much of North and Central Alabama. Precipitable water values are running 160-220% of their normal levels for mid-September, and this is generally a recipe for heavy rainfall.

We saw that across Central and North Alabama yesterday, with many areas picking up 2-4 inches and more of rain. Montgomery picked up 1.90 inches of rain yesterday, a record for the date. The Birmingham Airport picked up 0.84 inches of rain, but many areas across the metro picked up much more.

Here are 24 hour rainfall accumulation amounts across the area:

Obviously, the heavy rain has led to saturated soils in many areas, and with more rain expected today, and probably Monday and Tuesday as well, flash flooding could occur quickly if more rainfall falls over the same areas. Anticipating that, NWS offices across the Southeast, including Birmingham and Huntsville, have Flash Flood Watches posted.

Birmingham actually removed a few counties over southwestern portions of Central Alabama early this morning but added a few counties over its southeastern area of responsibility. Have a plan in case you live in a flood-prone area and be alert for persistent heavy rainfall, taking any precautions you would take in case waters rise.

The WPC has parts of Central and North Alabama in a slight risk (1/5) for excessive rainfall for today and tonight.

Here is a radar check at 4:30:

That Flash Flood Warning over Northeast Alabama is for Jackson County and it goes until 7:30 a.m.

Widespread showers and storms are expected to form through the morning and afternoon hours today. They may not be quite as widespread as yesterday it according to recent data, but where they do fall, they could dump 2 inches of rain per hour. They are not expected to be severe, which is good news.

Rain will remain likely through Tuesday, although rain chances should decrease slowly with time. A cold front will bring quite comfortable conditions to Alabama for Thursday and into the weekend.

I will have the video for you by 6:30 or so, with updates on the blog throughout the day.

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