Heat Levels Creep Up

An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player on the right sidebar of the blog. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.

BACK INTO THE 90s: Birmingham and much of Alabama has enjoyed a wonderful three day break from the summer heat that we deal with here in Alabama… the high has been in the 80s since Friday (84 Friday, 84 Saturday, and 87 yesterday). But, most good things come to and end, and we will creep back into the 90s this week as the upper ridge strengthens.

Speaking of that upper ridge, pretty amazing to see the 6000 meter heights at 500 mb around Omaha this morning; the core of the intense heat will be over the Midwest, where they will have some pretty nasty heat index values this week. But, around here, we have very good top soil moisture, which will keep the heat from running away. Look for a high in the low 90s today, and mostly mid 90s each day for the rest of the week.

AFTERNOON STORMS: This is the time of the year when a shower or thunderstorm is possible just about every afternoon. But, with the stronger ridge aloft, today and tomorrow the showers should be very widely spaced. Coverage of scattered showers and storms should increase a bit Wednesday through Friday, but clearly this week won’t be as wet as last week across Alabama.

WEEKEND PREVIEW: For now it looks like classic summer weather. Partly sunny, hot, and humid with a few scattered afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Highs in the low to mid 90s.

BRET IS ON THE BOARD: Tropical Storm Bret is east of Florida in the Atlantic, packing sustained winds of 60 mph. Bret is expected to remain a tropical storm as it moves northeast out to sea in coming days. No impact on Alabama, and other than some rough surf along the South Atlantic coast, no real impact on the U.S. mainland. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet.

AT THE BEACH: Very nice weather is ahead for the Central Gulf Coast from Panama City west to Gulf Shores, with mostly sunny days, fair nights, and only isolated showers and storms. Highs will be in the low 90s, and the sea water temperature at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab early this morning is 81 degrees.

WEATHER BRAINS: Don’t forget you can listen to our weekly 90 minute netcast anytime on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. Tonight we welcome Kim Klockow, a social scientist from the University of Oklahoma, who will talk about tornadoes, warnings systems and how people respond. We will produce the show at 8:30 p.m. CDT, and it will be on iTunes and the web by midnight.

FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….

I am speaking at the Tuscaloosa Kiwanis Club today… looking forward to that. Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon. Enjoy the day!