Midday Nowcast: Increasing Clouds with Much Needed Rain the Way

INCREASING CLOUDS: It is another very warm day with highs in the upper 70s and lower 80s. Clouds are increasing today as a cold front makes its way towards Alabama. Most of today will be dry, but some rain could reach the northwest corner of the state late this afternoon, and showers are possible statewide tonight.

TOMORROW & THE WEEKEND: Periods of light rain are in the forecast tomorrow and a times through the weekend. This showers will certainly be a welcomed sight for a parched state. Between now and Sunday, rain amounts for much of the state will be in the 1/2 inch to one inch range. We need a lot more, but anything will help at this time. The weather will be cooler with highs in the 50s and 60s the next three days with a mainly cloudy sky. The latest drought monitor released this morning, shows just how bad Alabama needs rain; 98.52% of the state is at least in moderate drought conditions, with 78.57% of the state now in severe drought, up from 58.37% last week. Extreme drought now covers 37.54% of Alabama, with 1.38% of Alabama, the extreme northeast corner of the state, now in exceptional drought, which is the worst category of drought.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: Periods of light rain are possible for the high school playoff games across the state Friday night with temperatures in the low 60s.

Saturday, Alabama travels to Lexington to take on Kentucky (11a CT kickoff). The sky will be mostly sunny with temperatures rising from near 52 at kickoff, to around 56 degrees by the final whistle.

UAB is also on the road; they will be in Annapolis MD play Navy (2:30p CT kickoff). It will be a great day for football; the sky will be sunny with temperatures falling from the mid 50s at kickoff, into the upper 40s by the fourth quarter.

Auburn will be in Fayetteville as they take on Arkansas (3:00p CT kickoff). The sky will be partly too mostly sunny with temperatures falling from the low 60s at kickoff, into the 50s by the fourth quarter.

NEXT WEEK: For now, not much change for the first half of next week with generally dry weather with seasonal temperatures; highs mostly in the 60s, and lows in the 40s. By midweek, some model suggest we could see increasing rain chances, but that remains a week away.

IN THE TROPICS: The Atlantic Basin is quiet with no tropical cyclone development the next week. Hurricane season ends November 30th and the remaining names on list this year are Vince and Whitney.

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 114.8F at las Lomitas, Argentina. The lowest observation was -72.2F Vostok, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 94F at Zapata, TX. The lowest observation was -12F at Peter Sinks, UT.

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