Continental Air Drops Into Alabama

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…

Usually this time of the year, a muggy, moisture laden airmass hangs over Alabama thanks to our neighbor, the Gulf of Mexico. But for the next couple of days, the air we breathe comes from the north, meaning lower humidity and cooler nights. Downright comfortable for June in our state.

Looks like we have a shot at reaching the upper 50s both tomorrow and Thursday morning, with afternoon highs in the mid 80s tomorrow and Thursday. The dry air also means no chance of rain.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Still looks like we need to ramp up the chance of showers and storms by Friday afternoon and Saturday, thanks to an impulse riding down the back side of the eastern U.S. upper trough. Then, on Sunday, the surface low associated with the short wave moves off to the east, and the air over Alabama becomes drier with a northerly low level flow, and the day looks generally dry for us. Monday of next week looks dry as well.

VOODOO LAND: Peeking into late June and early July, the amplitude lessens in the upper flow across the nation, and the upper ridge slowly rebuilds across the Deep South. But, it is not especially strong, and the pattern suggests typical summer weather with warm, humid days and the almost daily risk of scattered, mainly afternoon and evening showers and storms as we approach the Independence Day holiday. Still no sign of any really excessive heat here, or tropical trouble.

SUMMER SOLSTICE: Friday is our “longest day of the year”… the solstice comes at 6:59 p.m. CDT Friday. After that, the amount of daylight will shrink each day until the winter solstice, just before Christmas.

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. A brand new show is available this morning; we featured a guest from the NWS in Des Moines, Iowa to tell us about the flooding disaster up in that part of the world. The show notes will be posted later this morning.

Today I will be in Walker County speaking to the kids in a summer program on both the Jasper and Sumiton campus of Bevill State Community College… then it is back to the office and I will have the afternoon Weather Xtreme video ready by 3:30 or so. Enjoy the day!

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