An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below, and on iTunes…
Be sure and scroll down to see Bill Murray’s photos… see if you can guess his location.
TODAY/TONIGHT: Thunderstorms should fire up later today in advance of the approaching cold front, which is still near the Tennessee/Kentucky border this morning. Also, an outflow boundary from the ongoing activity in Tennessee is now across North Alabama, and that will probably be the focus for initial storm development around here today. When temperatures get into the 85 to 90 degree range this afternoon, the air will be relatively unstable, and a few strong storms are certainly possible with the potential for a few wet microbursts and some hail. Average rainfall amounts of 1/2 inch are likely, but as usual some spots will see more, and some will get less. Still looks like the main window for storms will be from 3:00 until 12:00 midnight, but with that outflow boundary lurking around, showers might get an earlier start in spots.
THE WEEKEND: Lets give credit to the GFS; it got into the idea of dry air this weekend five days ago when I was a big skeptic. The 00Z run gets the dry air in here late tonight, and it sure looks like most of the showers will be shunted down to South Alabama tomorrow. We will hang on to the chance of a morning shower tomorrow, mainly south of I-20, but the bulk of the weekend should be dry with lower humidity values. The latest MOS products from the GFS and the NAM have us in the 62 to 65 degree range early Sunday morning; that will feel pretty good. Sunday should feature lots of sunshine with the dry air staying in place.
NEXT WEEK: While our weather still looks generally dry Monday and Tuesday, deeper moisture is not that far away. An upper low develops around Augusta, Georgia, and moisture will cover much of Georgia and the Carolinas with a chance of showers early in the week. There is some hint that the upper low will retrograde a bit, and any westward movement will bring that moisture into the eastern part of Alabama.
TROPICS: A disorganized mass of disturbed weather continues in the general area northeast of Puerto Rico, and is moving to the west/northwest. This thing should get involved in the upper trough over the eastern U.S., turning it north and then northeast just off the Atlantic coast. Serious development doesn’t seem likely… but we will keep an eye on it.
WEATHER PARTY: Get all the latest weather news over on our sister site, WeatherParty.com. Be sure and register while you are there; you can submit stories and vote on them to determine what is published on the front page. Some interesting stories involving the Bill Proenza/NHC situation over there.
WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 30 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather hosted by David Black and featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40.
I will crank out another Weather Xtreme video by 3:30 this afternoon… then it is on to Regions Park where I will be doing the weather from the Birmingham Barons game at 5:00 and 6:00 this evening. Have a fabulous Friday!
