The radar is mainly quiet across Alabama after a memorable afternoon and evening.
September 17, 2009 will go down as a memorable rainfall event for folks in Calhoun, St. Clair and Jefferson Counties.
Radar estimates show a large area of 3-7 inch amounts over western St. Clair, eastern Jefferson and northeastern Shelby Counties. Two 8+ inch reports were received from the Peppertree and Carrington Estates areas of Trussville. Nancy Galloway reports 6+ inches between 7-8:30 p.m.
Radar showed even more than that in northern Calhoun County, where flooding was reported around the dinner time hour.
I don’t even have to say that the airmass over Alabama is warm and moist. The low pressure to the west of Alabama will continue to pump in moisture to an already overloaded atmosphere right on through the weekend and likely into next week.
This means more showers and storms with pockets of very heavy rainfall. A flash flood watch covers most of Central and Northwest Alabama through midnight tonight.
The GFS spits out 2.12 inches on average over the next 5 days, but it doesn’t handle the spotty extreme amounts well because of its resolution. The folks at HPC are forecasting widespread 3-5 inch amounts across the northwestern half of the state over the next 5 days.
Keep the umbrella close. The high school games and tomorrow’s college games do have a pretty high chance of passing showers and a chance of a serious washout, so check the latest before heading out and keep the rain gear handy.
