Dog Day Afternoon
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QUIET IN THE WEATHER OFFICE: The radar is very inactive across the northern half of Alabama today; warm air aloft associated with the upper ridge is keeping a lid on shower development so far; most of the showers and storms in Alabama are south of U.S. 80 (Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika), and even down over South Alabama the activity is pretty widely separated.
As you might expect on a late July day, the weather is hot. At 2:00 temperatures include 93 at Anniston, 94 at Birmingham, and 95 at Tuscaloosa. The sky is mostly sunny.
REST OF THE WEEK: The weather won’t change much tomorrow and Thursday. Afternoon highs will be generally in the 94 to 98 degree range, and any afternoon showers will be few and far between. But on Friday an upper trough to the north will put a big dent in the heat ridge, and we expect a good increase in the number of showers and storms thanks to the colder air aloft, and a surface front approaching from the north. The high Friday should drop back into the low 90s thanks to the clouds and showers. Can’t promise rain for everybody Friday, but it will clearly be our best crack at a good rain this week.
WEEKEND OUTLOOK: Drier air begins to move into North Alabama Saturday. Looks like the best chance of showers and storms will be from roughly I-20 southward… and by Sunday almost all of the state should be in drier, continental air. Looks like a high Saturday in the low 90s, followed by mid 90s Sunday, but the humidity Sunday should be relatively low for late July in Alabama.
NEXT WEEK: That dry should linger across much of Alabama Monday and Tuesday with generally dry conditions and highs in the mid 90s. See the Weather Xtreme video for more long range ideas.
TROPICS: A non-tropical low northeast of Bermuda is being monitored… I am not a big fan of giving these systems names since they are really hybrid systems in the North Atlantic… it is moving northeast and won’t impact any land area. The rest of the Atlantic basin remains very quiet.
AT THE BEACH: Very typical summer weather is likely from Panama City west to Gulf Shores through the weekend. About 5 to 7 hours of sunshine daily, with the risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs along the immediate coast will remain in the 87 to 90 degree range, and the sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab this afternoon is 87 degrees (F).
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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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