Too Hot

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Anyone remember the song by Kool and the Gang?

“Oh, it’s too hot (too hot)
Too hot, lady (too hot)
Gotta run for shelter
Gotta run for shade”

WEEKEND HEAT: Upper ridging is the story for Alabama this weekend, with highs at least in the mid 90s with a good supply of summer sunshine each day. Some MOS products are trying to print highs in the 97-98 degree range here by Sunday, but hopefully the decent soil moisture will keep us closer to 95, although I am not sure you can really tell the difference. The tropical nature of the airmass will mean heat index values at or over 100 at times. And, while a thunderstorm is certainly possible during the heat of the day, they should be isolated due to the warmer air aloft. Stay cool the best you can.

NEXT WEEK: Watch the Weather Xtreme video and you will see the 00Z GFS is keeping the upper ridge relatively strong through the first half of next week, meaning mid 90s continuing just about every day next week with only a small risk of any one spot getting wet on a daily basis. We all know we don’t have much skill in handling summer convection days in advance, but the week at this point looks hot with afternoon storms being few and far between.

Perhaps the most interesting item next week that shows up on the GFS is a tropical type low in the Gulf that moves up toward Mobile Bay by the end of the week. This feature has been around for a few days, and bears watching considering the warm SSTs in the GOM. But, it could disappear on future runs; we will keep an eye on that.

TROPICS: The wave that NHC gave a zero percent chance of developing yesterday morning won’t go away. It actually looks fairly impressive as it moves into the Leeward Islands this morning; models want to take this over Hispaniola and toward the Bahamas or even South Florida in 5 to 7 days. It will have rough ride due to strong winds aloft and the interaction with the mountainous island of Hispaniola, but we will keep an eye on it.

BEACH WEATHER: We are projecting about 5 to 7 hours of sunshine each day along the Gulf Coast from Panama City west to Gulf Shores; the high will be in the upper 80s on the immediate coast, with low to mid 90s inland. The sea water temperature late last night at Pensacola Beach was a balmy 86 degrees (F).

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I will be in Anniston today doing a safety program for ALAGASCO employees… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so this afternoon. Enjoy the day!