Finally, the air over Alabama has become more moist and unstable. With no warm-air inversion to cap the thunderstorm activity, warm surface temperatures, and plenty of atmospheric moisture, storms are already forming this morning. By afternoon, CAPE values could reach 3000 J/kg over the area, so expect scattered showers and thunderstorms to increase. We may get the most widespread rain today we’ve seen in a while. That may still only be 30 or 40%, but that’s better than 0 or 5%!
With the hot surface temperatures creating very unstable air at low-levels, downdrafts coming down out of thunderstorms will accelerate rapidly toward the ground, allowing for the possibility of wind gusts up to 50 mph or so in some storms, so be aware of that. Otherwise, bring on the rain!
