Wet Is The Word
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NOT LIKE JULY: Muscle Shoals and Decatur reported a high of 77 degrees yesterday… thanks to clouds and periods of rain that lasted much of the day. The rain total at Muscle Shoals was 3.07″; a far dry from the hot and dusty weather they experienced about 10 days ago when nasty, triple digit heat was ruling.
Down this way, Birmingham’s high yesterday was 85 degrees, and most of our Skywatchers reported rain amounts of 1/2 to 3/4 inch across the metro. Some of their totals included 1.17? at Black Creek (northeast of Gadsden), 1.06? at Jasper, .95? at Moody, .73? at Concord, and .61? at Cottondale.
TODAY/TOMORROW: The overall pattern just isn’t changing much. We begin this day with fairly widespread, light rain over the northern third of the state, and rain is already increasing over West-Central Alabama and East-Central Mississippi; that rain will expand eastward during the morning. We expect periods of rain today along with some thunder, and a high only in the low to mid 80s.
The sun might be out at times tomorrow, but scattered to numerous showers and storms remain likely with a high in the upper 890s. It is very unusual for Alabama to have this kind of good summer rain without a tropical storm or hurricane being involved.
OUR WEEKEND: Upper heights rise a bit on Saturday and Sunday, but the 00Z GFS still gives us a decent chance of showers and storms both days. It won’t rain all day, but if you have something planned outdoors just understand it should rain a few times with potential for thunder. Temperatures creep up just slightly; the 00Z GFS is printing a high right around 90 Saturday and Sunday, still below average for the middle of July in Alabama.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: Again, the 00Z GFS is showing low 90s most of next week, with a mix of sun and clouds each day along the risk of scattered showers and storms, mostly during the afternoon and evening. And, still no evidence of any triple digit heat returning to Alabama through the end of July. See the Weather Xtreme video for the details and graphics.
TROPICS: The vast Atlantic basin remains very quiet, and tropical storm formation is not expected through the weekend. We do note the eastern Pacific is active with a trio of tropical systems, but they won’t effect any land area.
GULF COAST WEATHER: Nothing out of the ordinary… we project about 6 to 8 hours of sunshine each day on the Gulf Coast from Panama City west to Gulf Shores through the weekend, with the daily risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon highs will be in the 86 to 89 degree range on the immediate coast, and sea water temperatures remain in the mid 80s.
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Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!
Category: Alabama's Weather
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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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