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Looks like a fairly typical Memorial Day weekend with warm and humid conditions in store for the holiday that traditionally kicks off summer. Now officially summer does not begin until June 20th at 6:59 pm according to the summer solstice when the sun reaches it’s farthest north point. But for most of us, as school gets out and June begins so does summer.
Interesting day yesterday with thunderstorms both east and west of Alabama but very few in our state. The storms in Mississippi generated a number of warnings with some spectacular lightning for those of you in western Alabama. But as far as I could tell, the rain stayed in Mississippi along with several reports of wind damage and large hail. Chasers were active once again in the Plains states with a number of tornado sightings.
The boundary that helped to focus those thunderstorms yesterday evening has drifted southward and will probably become very hard to find today. In the meantime, a strong upper ridge will be moving over the Southeast states. I did note that the upper air sounding from BMX last night showed a subsidence inversion around 700 millibars which should also help to suppress any storms today.
The ridge continues to trek eastward on Monday so I really think we will remain dry. Since the air will be warm and the humidity levels show no signs of change, I can’t rule out the possibility of isolated storms in the heat of the afternoon.
Tuesday and Wednesday I think we’ll see better rain chances – especially Wednesday – as a weak front approaches the Tennessee Valley from the north. That front is forecast to move through by mid-day Thursday paving the way for mostly dry weather in Central Alabama Thursday and Friday.
By next weekend, the pattern becomes rather flat with no big features allowing the typical afternoon shower pattern to set up. I must point out, too, that the GFS is holding onto the disturbances in the extreme Western Caribbean for next Sunday. The projected track is westward on the latest run taking it across the Yucatan peninsula during next week. However, the Gulf remains rather jittery, so I’m sure many of us will be watching to see how the GFS continues to handle that system.
I’ll be filling in for Ashley Brand again tonight and then for James Spann Monday and Tuesday, so be sure to catch the news and weather on ABC 3340. I’ll also be filling in here for James during the upcoming week but with only one-a-day, the morning one. I plan to have it posted by 8 am or so. I hope that you have a good Memorial Day weekend. Stay safe and God bless.
-Brian-
