Alabama’s Most Detailed Seven Day Forecast

Thursday afternoon, April 3, 2025
Forecaster: Ryan Stinnett

RECORD HIGHS?: The strong upper ridge in place across the Deep South is allowing temperatures to surge into the upper 80s and lower 90s across Alabama. These temperatures are around 20° above average for early April in Alabama; early April is feeling more like early June and record highs are likely to be set in the coming days. Here are the record highs for Birmingham through Saturday:

April 3 87 (1999)
April 4 88 (1934)
April 5 88 (2010)

Along with the to temperatures, the ridge is keeping widespread showers and storms north and west of Alabama where the severe weather threats and flooding are expected through the weekend. A few isolated showers will be possible each day, especially over the northwestern corner of Alabama, but overall the weather will remain mainly dry in Alabama.

BIRMINGHAM ALMANAC: For April 3rd, the average high for Birmingham is 72° and the average low is 49°. The record high is 87° set in 1999, while the record low is 27° set in 1992. We average 0.17” of precipitation on this date and the record value is 4.13” set in 2001.

SOME SEVERE STORMS THIS WEEKEND: The ridge breaks down over the weekend, allowing showers and thunderstorms to return to Alabama. Most of Saturday will be dry, but an organized batch of showers and storms will enter Northwest Alabama around midnight Saturday night. These will then move south and east through the state during the morning hours and should exit the southeast corner of the state Sunday afternoon. Storms that pass through Alabama will be capable of producing strong winds and hail; a brief tornado or two is possible. Rain amounts of 1-2 inches are expected. The Storm Prediction Center maintains the risk of severe weather for Alabama during this time-frame.

LATE SEASON COLD SNAP: Much colder weather returns to Alabama next week. Highs Monday across North Alabama will likely hold in the 50s, while the rest of the state should see low 60s. Morning lows for Tuesday and Wednesday will be in the 30s, and there is a decent chance for some frost and a late season freeze for parts of Alabama. Clouds increase Wednesday, and we will mention a chance of showers Wednesday night into Thursday. Highs moderate into the 70s, while lows climb back into the mid and upper 40s through the week.

RETIRED 2024 ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Hurricane Committee has retired the names Beryl, Helene, and Milton from its Atlantic basin name list due to the significant death and destruction these storms caused in 2024. The WMO has replaced the retired names with Brianna, Holly, and Miguel for the Atlantic basin. The naming convention aids in storm communication and public safety, with names repeated every six years unless retired due to a storm’s severity.The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season marked the ninth consecutive year of above-average activity, with 18 named storms, 11 of which were hurricanes, and five reaching major hurricane status.

DROUGHT MONITOR: Again, subtle changes in the latest drought monitor released this morning. Last week, 43.64% of the state was Abnormally Dry and that is down to 42.32% this week. Last week, 1.27% of the state had moderate drought, and that number has not changed. These moderate drought conditions are impacting Southwest Alabama mainly in the Washington, Choctaw, Clarke, and Marengo counties.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 111.2F at Nawabshah, Pakistan. The lowest observation was -103.7F at Vostok, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 107F at La Puerta, TX. The lowest observation was -20F at Peter Sinks, UT.