Warm And Dry

**No afternoon Weather Xtreme video today… doing a little extra work with construction and technical items at ABC 33/40; thanks to J.B. Elliott for the discussion this afternoon below!**

A NICE STRETCH OF FRIENDLY WEATHER: Speaking of friendly weather, when does it get unfriendly? I guess that could be when we have a hurricane or any type of severe weather or even a snowstorm. We don’t expect any of that for the next 7 days, so we shall go ahead and label it friendly weather. It will not be too hot, it will not be cold, night temperatures will be very pleasant and we do not expect any widespread thunderstorms with flooding rains.

Today is a good example. By noon today the temperature was 78 in Birmingham and 79 in Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, and 75 in Gadsden. The humidity was relatively low, there were no showers and there was lots of sunshine. Our temperature forecast for the next 5 to 7 days calls for highs consistently in the 80s. As we get into early next week, the old thermometer will edge upward with 2 or 3 days with highs in the upper 80s. By next Thursday, a weak front will push through from the north giving us a few scattered showers and thunderstorms, but turning slightly cooler with a high around 78 to 80. There is also a small risk of an afternoon thunderstorm on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nighttime temperatures will be in the 50s over the weekend and low to mid 60s well into next week. How can we fuss, grumble and complain about that? Not me!

FOOTBALL WEATHER: Is there another population anywhere in the USA that loves college football better than here in Alabama? This includes high school games. Numerous high school games across the state tonight and I cannot envision how the weather could be any nicer. In most sections of the state it will be about 75 degrees at kickoff and 65 to 70 for the final whistle. Those temperatures may be 3 or 4 degrees cooler than that in some of the northeast counties. Big college games ahead for Saturday. Mississippi State travels to Auburn for an 11:20 a.m. kickoff. It should be sunny and in the 70s at kickoff with about 85 by the final whistle. Alabama will be way far away in State College, Pennsylvania to play Penn State. There will be a possible shower during the game, but not widespread drenching rain. The official high temperature for State College tomorrow is 76 with some scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm–about a 40 percent chance.

TROPICAL UPDATE: Hurricane Katia is a Category One storm about 500 miles southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Other than some rough surf, clouds, and some occasional rain, this storm will have no major impacts on the US or Canada.

Tropical Storm Maria is still churning westward at a clip of 15-20 MPH. As long as it moves that fast, there is not much room for strengthening. Maria could approach the Bahamas by mid-week as a minimal hurricane, but Maria does not look like big threat for the East Coast or the Gulf.

Tropical Storm Nate has been a puzzle for forecasters for a time. Some weather models took him northeast through the North Central Gulf of Mexico while most others projected him to go west and enter Mexico from the east. That seems to be the main thinking now of the National Hurricane Center and most of the tropical weather models. There was some hope for a time that he could give Texas some beneficial rain. That seems off the table now.

USA NOTES: Guess what the high was yesterday at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport? Well, I’ll go ahead and tell you. It was 88. Surely there had to be celebrations all over that huge area. They are expecting 89 this afternoon and 91 Saturday. So, that long, long stretch of 100-degree plus heat has been broken…I can’t even begin to imagine the wildfire situation in Texas and other states. Reports early today say 1,400 more homes had burned down in just a few days…elsewhere around the country, the hottest yesterday was 114 at El Centro, California…coldest this morning was 32 in Yellowstone Park and at Stanley, Idaho…Kristie Calvin, the ABC 33/40 Skywatcher for North Pole, Alaska, reported a low of 29 this morning. She also said that the leaves are now a bright yellow and beginning to fall…in Pennsylvania, thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate along the Susquehanna River due to the river raging out of its banks.

BEACH FORECAST: Don’t know if very many people are still going to the beach since school has started, but it is time for a lot of people who live in the Northern USA to think about coming south to spend the winter at such places as Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Destin, Panama City and other places. There should be lots of sunshine for the next several days, but there will be a slight chance of an afternoon thunderstorm Saturday and again about the middle of next week. Low temperatures will be between 67 to 72 near the beach and low 60s inland. Highs will be in the upper 80s.

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Brian Peters will have the Weather Xtreme videos here over the weekend… my next one will be posted bright and early Monday morning by 7:00. Enjoy the weekend!