Unsettled Weather

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The sun has popped out across parts of North Alabama this afternoon following the morning round of rain and storms. This has actually created some instability; surface based CAPE values are now over 500 over much of North Alabama. That means a few scattered showers could form during the next few hours, but nothing especially widespread since the upper support for the front in our neighborhood is moving over Eastern Canada, and away from us.

We will hang on to a chance of a shower in scattered spots tomorrow, but it won’t be a rainy day, and the sun should poke out at times.

THURSDAY: Still a complicated with a wedge front over East Alabama, and a surge of warm air moving northward over West Alabama. This wedge does not look as strong as the one we saw Sunday, but cooler air could work into extreme East Alabama, mainly along and east of U.S. 431. It might be a day with a high close to 60 near Heflin and Roanoke, and around 80 near Tuscaloosa. We will mention a chance of a few scattered showers, but like tomorrow, it certainly won’t be a rainy day.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY: A fairly potent spring storm system will impact Alabama; at this point it looks like the greatest risk of strong to severe storms will come from about 4:00 p.m. Friday through 4:00 a.m. Saturday. The GFS is showing CAPE values of 750 to 1,000 j/kg across much of Alabama Friday evening, and respectable wind fields at the surface and aloft, so severe weather will certainly be a concern. The storms will end early Saturday morning, followed by clearing during the day Saturday. Sunday should be a pleasant spring day with ample sunshine and a high in the mid 70s.

NEXT WEEK: A disturbance will pass north of Alabama Monday; it might bring showers to the Tennessee Valley; for now we won’t mention this in our forecast. The big system will arrive Thursday (according to the 12Z GFS)… that one looks quite potent and will have severe weather potential.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 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. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. This week’s new show is all about the nation’s largest outbreak of tornadoes on record; the Superoutbreak of 1974. Some great weather legends are on the show, including Allen Pearson, former director of SELS, who developed the F scale along with Ted Fujita. See a video on this event featuring J.B. Elliott here.

PRIME TIME TV SPECIAL: Join ABC 33/40 on the occasional of the tenth anniversary of the April 8, 1998 F5 tornado for a prime time weather special. The show will air from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8; for one hour we will look back at this historic storm, through the eyes of those that covered the storm for ABC 33/40, and those in the path of the storm who survived. We will also be going to a live memorial service at Open Door Church, one of the many churches who lost their building that horrible Wednesday night.

Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

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