Big Change To Cooler Weather Ahead

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

BIG CONTRAST: No doubt we have a cold front in place somewhere between Birmingham, where the temperature at mid-afternoon is 90 degrees, and International Falls, Minnesota, where it is only 39 degrees at the same time. The front is approaching Memphis, and should move through here early tomorrow.

Ahead of the front, showers and a few storms continue over parts of North Mississippi, West Tennessee, and Arkansas, and we will maintain the chance of showers here tonight and into tomorrow morning. Rain amounts should be light and spotty, with most places getting 1/4″ or less. There could be some thunder in spots, but severe weather isn’t expected with very weak upper support and marginal instability values.

The main window for showers will come from about 9:00 p.m. tonight through 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. By afternoon most of the showers should move down into South Alabama ahead of the front.

COOLER DAYS AHEAD: The NAM is printing a high of only 73 degrees for Birmingham tomorrow; the GFS is warmer with 81. As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in-between those values, but no doubt the 90 degree weather is over for a while. Maybe a long while. The high Friday will be only in the 70s, and a moist easterly flow of Atlantic moisture could keep the sky mostly cloudy Friday, especially over East Alabama. Despite the clouds rain for now looks very unlikely Friday and Friday night.

WEEKEND PEEK: We expect a high around 80 Saturday, followed by low to mid 80s Sunday as a slow warming trend begins. The cooler temperatures should be over East Alabama, where the wedge could come into play (cooler air draining into East Alabama coming down the slopes of the Appalachian Mountains). Again at this point the chance of rain looks so small both days we won’t mention it in the forecast, although I guess a shower could pop up in a few spots.

NEXT WEEK: The idea of a cold front remains off the table as the GFS shows ridging aloft for much of the week, with highs mostly in the 80s. The chance of organized rain still looks low for at least the first half of the week; see the Weather Xtreme video for more long range details.

TROPICS: Tropical Storm Maria, packing sustained winds of 60 mph, will pass west of Bermuda tomorrow morning, and well east of the U.S. Atlantic coast. It will recurve into the North Atlantic by Friday. The rest of the Atlantic basin for now is quiet.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

I had a great time today seeing the 3rd graders at Gwin Elementary in Hoover… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News! The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…

Tags: cooler

Category: Alabama's Weather