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Today should be the 10th day in a row of 100 degree heat for much of Alabama. You are tired of dealing with it, and we are tired of talking about it. But, heat waves and droughts are a natural part of the amazing weather machine, and it was just our turn. You can scroll down for some numbers from yesterday, and some statistics on how yesterday’s heat will go down in the record books.
LOOKING AHEAD: We will slowly back the afternoon high temperature forecasts down in coming days. Slowly is the important word; you sure won’t be needing any jackets or sweaters anytime soon. Dewpoints will also be rising, meaning the air won’t heat as effectively, but on the other hand it means higher humidity and heat index levels. The heights will lower slightly, and the cooler air aloft should mean a few isolated afternoon thunderstorms, but no widespread rain.
For next week it looks like we will be in the mid 90s, maybe upper 90s (thanks to the lack of topsoil moisture), with some risk of widely scattered afternoon storms. Lather in the month, the pattern does look more favorable for heat levels to reduce even more with a better coverage of scattered afternoon showers and storms.
TROPICAL ACTION: Tropical storm Erin is moving into the Texas coast this morning, with the heaviest rain between Galveston and Corpus Christi. Heavy rain is the primary problem, and our friends around Austin and San Antonio might wind up with some flooding issues in coming days.
And, out in the Atlantic, Dean is now a hurricane. The models continue to take Dean through the Caribbean, across the Yucatan peninsula, and into the Mexican coast well south of Brownsville, Texas by Thursday of next week. This track, of course, means no impact on our weather, unless some moisture from the decaying system inland moves up in here in 10 to 15 days. Most likely, that moisture would remain west of Alabama.
And, another good looking tropical wave is coming off the coast of Africa. This one will have the potential to develop in coming days.
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