The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available in the player below and on iTunes…
I feel like we ought to declare tomorrow an Alabama holiday so everyone can stay home and enjoy some of the best rain chances we’ve seen here in quite a while. Crazy to think I can get so excited about some rain, but when your annual rain deficit is over 15 inches and the drought conditions are into the exceptional category, this seems like a great time to celebrate.
A cold front will be coming into Alabama Tuesday in conjunction with a small short wave that is coming out of Texas. Today we should see a few more clouds and perhaps even a few more showers than yesterday as moisture increases and the trough approaches. On Tuesday the front will be coming at us from the northwest, so we should see lots of clouds and showers off and on. One of those kinds of days where some spots may see more than one shower. Rainfall amounts should average between one half and one inch, but because of the spotty nature of showers, some locations could get amounts between one and two inches with the stronger storms. I think we’ll see some thunderstorms, too, so keep lightning safety in your mind and don’t take any chances with it.
Temperatures will be a bit cooler with the clouds and rain on Tuesday. Today is not likely to be quite as hot as yesterday but still into the lower 90s and tomorrow our high should only reach the lower 80s. But the increased moisture will make it feel muggy. Who cares as long as we get a good dousing.
The front is expected to continue southward to the Gulf Coast on Wednesday and our chances for rain will be waning. However, should the front move a bit slower, we might see good chances for showers during the first part of Wednesday.
With drier air coming in Wednesday, I expect to see Thursday and Friday mostly dry and temperatures will begin to recover as we get back to sunny skies. The northwesterly flow pattern will mean that we’ll have to be vigilant and keep a watchful eye upstream for the development of large clusters of thunderstorms. These mesoscale convection complexes can travel hundreds of miles reaching us during the overnight hours. One of those would be welcome, however, they are extremely tough to forecast more than a day in advance.
By the weekend, we should be back into a pattern of widely scattered showers typical of summer which officially starts on June 21st.
Tropics are quiet as that disturbed area in the Bahamas has moved out to sea and apparently weakened.
Perusing the forecasts out in voodoo land, the westerlies retreat to the northern US around the 27th but another fairly sharp east coast trough is forecast to develop around the 30th. That could bring us another reasonably good shot at some rain. As we enter July, the GFS keeps a weakness in the 500 millibar pattern over the Southeast which could signal good chances for daily showers and thunderstorms.
James Spann is on vacation, so I’ll be posting one a day videos for the next week. I anticipate having them posted by 9 am or a little earlier. Have a great week and God bless.
-Brian-
