Dry Days; Heat Levels Rise Next Week
NO RAIN ANYTIME SOON: A dry pattern will persist across Alabama through the weekend with sunny warm days and clear pleasant nights. The only exception is along the immediate Gulf Coast where a few isolated showers could pop up Saturday and Sunday, but even there most places will stay dry. Highs will be in the 86-89 degree range for most places, with lows in the 60s. The average high for Birmingham today is 86.
NEXT WEEK: Rain-free weather continues with rising heat levels as an upper ridge builds over the region, highs most days will be in the low 90s. Still no sign of any high impact weather event for Alabama for at least the next 7-10 days as this quiet pattern continues. See the daily Weather Briefing video for maps, graphics, and more details.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Clear weather is the story for the high school football games across Alabama tomorrow night with temperatures falling into the 70s during the games.
Saturday, Auburn hosts Penn State (2:30p CT kickoff) at Jordan-Hare Stadium… the sky will be sunny; about 87 degrees at kickoff. Alabama will host LA-Monroe Saturday (3:00p CT kickoff) at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will be sunny and very warm with temperatures falling from near 88 degrees at kickoff into the low 80s by the final whistle.
UAB is also at home; they host Georgia Southern at Protective Stadium in downtown Birmingham Saturday (2:30p CT kickoff). Expect a sunny sky with a kickoff temperature around 87 degrees… lows 80s by the end of the game.
TROPICS: Tropical Storm Fiona continues to pack sustained winds of around 50 mph in the Atlantic, about 500 miles east of the Leeward Islands. Moderate to strong westerly to northwesterly shear will persist for the next several days over Fiona. This, combined with some drier mid-level air to the west of the storm, could make it difficult for Fiona’s inner-core structure to become better organized. NHC keeps the system below hurricane strength for the next five days, and the system is expected to turn sharply northward early next week around Puerto Rico or Hispaniola. Fiona will likely remain well east of the contiguous U.S.
The rest of the Atlantic basin remains very quiet.
ON THIS DATE IN 1945: A hurricane entered the South Florida coast at Homestead, curving northward right up through the center of Florida, remaining over land, and exited near Jacksonville Beach with winds gusting to 170 mph. The following is from the Homestead Air Reserve Base. “On Sept. 15, 1945, three years to the day after the founding of the Homestead Army Air Field, a massive hurricane roared ashore, sending winds of up to 145 miles per hour tearing through the Air Field’s buildings.”
ON THIS DATE IN 2020: Hurricane Sally was nearing the Alabama Gulf Coast. It would make made landfall in Gulf Shores at 5a CT the next day, on Wednesday, September 16 as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Sally produced widespread wind, storm surge, and freshwater flooding across coastal AL and the western Florida Panhandle. Flood and wind damage also extended well inland into inland southwest Alabama and south central Alabama. Sally was an extremely slow moving hurricane, which prolonged and exacerbated the local impacts. The storm was moving at less than 5 mph at the time of landfall, resulting in a long duration of tropical storm and hurricane force winds, storm surge, and torrential rainfall.
BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.
Look for the next Weather Briefing video here by 3:00 this afternoon… enjoy the day!
Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS, Weather Xtreme Videos
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James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA. He is a past winner of the Broadcast Meteorologist of the Year from both professional organizations.Subscribe
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