An all new edition of the ABC 33/40 Weather Xtreme video is available in the player below. You can subscribe to the Weather Xtreme video on iTunes by clicking here.
HOT SUMMER DAYS: The summer solstice was just after midnight Saturday night (12:45 a.m. Sunday), so summer now is here in terms of astronomy and meteorology. This is also when we get our longest daylight of the year; the sunrise this morning was at 5:38 a.m., and the sun will set tonight at 8:01 p.m. Days will slowly get shorter now until the winter solstice right before Christmas. And, as you should expect on a June day in Alabama, the weather today stays hot and humid with a high in the mid 90s in most places. A few showers and storms will likely fire up today on the eastern periphery of the heat ridge over East Tennessee and Georgia, but most Alabama communities will stay dry.
REST OF THE WEEK: The core of the upper ridge will slowly move to the west during the mid-week period, giving Alabama a northerly flow aloft, and opening the door for widely scattered showers and thunderstorms during the peak of the daytime heating process. Highs will back down into the low 90s… you won’t exactly need jackets or sweaters, but at least we are moving in the right direction. Also, that northerly flow aloft will open the door for a potential MCS/decrecho to move into Alabama from the north, but there is hardly any skill in identifying when those develop. We will just have to keep an eye on radars to the north.
Looks like we will stay just east of the heat bubble tomorrow through Friday, so each day we will forecast partly sunny, hot, and humid weather with some risk of widely scattered showers and storms during the afternoon and evening hours. And again, we will have to watch for organized thunderstorm areas that might move in from the north. Highs in the 90 to 94 degree range, with the hottest readings on the western side of Alabama.
COMING WEEKEND: No real change; there should be sufficient moisture and instability for a few scattered showers and storms, otherwise the hot and muggy weather continues. Check out the Weather Xtreme video for ideas out in the long range into early July.
TROPICS: Also watch the Weather Xtreme video for a look at tropical storm Andres in the eastern Pacific, just off the west coast of Mexico; that has the potential to become a hurricane tonight as it moves parallel to the coast; it will then turn to the west by mid-week and weaken over cooler water. The Atlantic basin remains quiet.
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 featuring many familiar voices, including our meteorologists here at ABC 33/40. You can even listen here on the blog; look for the player on the top left. We will record a new show tonight; it will be posted by 10:30.
FOLLOW ALONG: Connect with us on the social networks! Here is your invitation to follow me on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can also get all Alabama warnings on Twitter via E-Warn.
Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon… enjoy the day!
