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DRIER AIR SLIPS INTO THE STATE: We will hang to a tiny chance of a shower in isolated spots this evening, but dry air is taking over this afternoon. The dewpoint has dropped to near 60 over Northwest Alabama, and dry will set the stage for some very pleasant weather in coming days.
TOMORROW AND WEDNESDAY: Lots of sunshine both days, with highs around 80, and lows down in the mid 50s by early Wednesday. Humidity values will remain rather low for mid-May.
THURSDAY, FRIDAY, AND THE WEEKEND: Watch the Weather Xtreme video and you will see the 12Z GFS has come in drier. I guess we could mention some risk of an afternoon shower or storm Thursday and Friday, but most spots will stay dry with highs rising into the upper 80s. The weekend looks hot, and mostly dry now as a strong ridge aloft begins to build across Alabama and the Deep South, in response to a huge trough over the western half of the nation. The GFS MOS is printing low 90s for Birmingham Saturday and Sunday, so it looks like the hottest weekend so far this year. With some decent amount of instability, I guess an afternoon shower or storm could pop up somewhere, but they should be few and far between due to the warm air associated with the upper ridge.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: Still no sign of any serious weather issues for Alabama through the rest of May and into the first few days of June. The primary jet remains well to the north of Alabama, so temperatures here should remain above average, with rainfall below average. We will probably see a few days with “scattered afternoon showers and storms”, but for now no really widespread rain event is showing up on global model output. Sure looks like summer is setting in.
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I had a great time today visiting with the 6th graders at Ashville Middle School in St. Clair County… be looking for them on the Pepsi KIDCAM today at 5:00 on ABC 33/40 News. The next Weather Xtreme video will be posted here by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow…
