Central Alabama’s Most Detailed Seven Day Forecast

Monday afternoon, March 25, 2019
Forecaster: Ryan Stinnett

STRONG STORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE: The threat for strong storms continues as we head through the afternoon and evening hours as a cold front makes its way into the state. Early this afternoon, there are a couple areas of light rain ongoing across Central Alabama, but these continue to push out of the area. We are dealing with a mix of sun and clouds and temperatures generally in the 60s; these should continue to climb the next couple of hours. Now onto the potential storm threat…

PLACEMENT: The SPC continues the standard “slight risk” (level 2/5) of severe storms for much of Central Alabama, including places like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Gadsden, Clanton, Demopolis, Greenville, Montgomery,Troy, and Auburn. A “marginal risk” (level 1/5) covers most of the rest of the state.

THREATS: The main issue with any storms today will be large hail. Thunderstorms will be capable of producing hail up to ping pong ball or even golf ball size. Along with the hail threat, strong, damaging wind gusts are also possible. With unidirectional flow aloft, the tornado threat remains very low, but is not zero. Just make sure you are staying weather aware if and when storms start developing this afternoon.

TIMING: We are watching the radar carefully, waiting for storms to begin to develop. The main window for storms to impact Alabama is roughy now through about 9PM. Storms should begin to develop across Mississippi and West Alabama and impact these locations as they move west to east across the state. Expect the main impacts in western portions of the area between 1:00-5:00PM, 3:00-7PM for Central Alabama including the Interstate 20/59 corridor, and then south of a line from Selma to Alexander City to Roanoke, during the 5:00-9:00PM timeframe.

All rain and storms should be winding down and out of here by midnight with mainly cloudy conditions lingering. It will be a chilly night as lows fall back in the 40s in many locations across North/Central Alabama.

ELSEWHERE IN THE USA: Several Pacific storms will impact much of the West Coast through the coming week, with locally heavy rain possible in lower elevations, and snow for the mountains.

FOR TOMORROW: Our Tuesday will feature a partly sunny sky and cooler temperatures with a high in the low 60s. Our coldest night this week will come tomorrow night into early Wednesday when temperatures will drop into the 36-42 degree range..Colder spots could see a light freeze and frost.

WARMING TREND: After the chilly start to the day we are going to see ample sunshine Wednesday and our temperatures will warm to near 70 degrees Wednesday afternoon. Thursday and Friday will be very mild and dry with plenty of sunshine; afternoon temperatures will climb into the mid 70s.

WEEKEND WEATHER: Another cold front will approach the state bringing our next chance of rain. For now it looks like the main window for rain will come from late Saturday, Saturday night, and into early Sunday morning. At this time the severe weather risk looks low, but of course this time of year, every system has to be watched carefully; rain amounts should be 1/2 inch or less. The high Saturday will be in the mid 70s, but Sunday will be cooler as highs fall back into the lower 60s.

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN FOR INDYCAR AT BARBER: The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will be April 5-7 at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park! Make plans for the event that has been voted “Best Annual Event” & “Best Sporting Event” in Birmingham. Kids 15 & under are admitted free with a ticketed adult, and three-day general admission tickets are $69. Single day tickets are as low as $15. Pack a picnic/cooler and bring the family out for a weekend full of activities and racing! For tickets, CLICK HERE.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Fort Morgan to Panama City on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region that you are interested in visiting.

WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 109.0F at Chauk, Myanmar. The lowest observation was -90.8F at Concordia, Antarctica.

CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: The highest observation was 94F at Rio Grande Village, TX. The lowest observation was -3F at Michigamme, MI.

WEATHER ON THIS DATE IN 1948:  For the second time in less than a week airplanes were destroyed by a tornado at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City OK. A March 20th tornado destroyed fifty planes at Tinker AFB causing more than ten million dollars damage, and the March 25th tornado destroyed another thirty-five planes causing six million dollars damage. The first tornado struck without warning, and caused more damage than any previous tornado in the state of Oklahoma. The second tornado was predicted by Fawbush and Miller of the United States Air Force, and their accurate tornado forecast ushered in the modern era of severe weather forecasting.