The latest edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme Video is available in the player below and on iTunes…
Wow, it’s HOT!! The relative humidity remains low for one more day but moisture is gradually increasing. High clouds were streaming across the Alabama sky this morning, the atmosphere remained very dry, so temperatures should climb well into the upper 90s. I would not be surprised to see one or two reporting stations hit 100 degrees today. But as moisture gradually increases, we will see the possibility of an isolated shower Sunday and Monday with slightly better chances at mid-week and into the end of the week.
The moisture increase should also help to shave a few degrees off our highs which are running nearly 10 degrees above the values we normally expect to see at this time of year. We could threaten the record high today in Birmingham which stands at 100 degrees set in 1897. Tuscaloosa’s record for today is 101.
The ridge builds in a little stronger Monday and Tuesday with a weakness in the 500 millibar ridge off to our west. That will be the focus of enhanced chances for showers. But the ridge retrogrades toward the end of the week bringing Alabama back under a northwesterly flow pattern as an east coast trough redevelops. Northwesterly flow patterns can be interesting with clusters of thunderstorms moving hundreds of miles and getting into Alabama. We have not seen that so far in late May or June, but there is always hope.
With the slight shift in the pattern we can expect to see a typical weather forecast with the mention of scattered showers every day for the latter half of the week. Fortunately it looks like the temperatures will ease off just a bit so that will be good.
Trolling out into voodoo land, that big bowling ball of a closed low is gone. I really didn’t have much confidence in that solution. The GFS is now more realistic with the overall Rocky Mountain ridge and east coast trough. By July 9th the pattern become more dominated by a strong ridge across the southern half of the US.
Off to a community celebration day at the invitation of the Choccolocco Volunteer Fire Department. Looking forward to talking with folks in Calhoun County – just hope there is plenty of shade. Then I’m planning to make a stop at the Calhoun County amateur radio group field day site at Cheaha State Park. Field day is a contest among hams that also serves as a communication readiness test. Hams set up their radio equipment in out of the way places to communicate with people all over the world.
I should have the next Weather Xtreme Video posted tomorrow morning by 9 am. Have a great Saturday and God bless.
-Brian-
