FINALLY MORE SUNSHINE: Clouds continue to be the main feature in the sky over Alabama today, but we are starting to see more and more sunshine through breaks in the clouds. To our west, the sky is mostly sunny over Mississippi. Scattered showers and storms remain in the forecast for today with highs in the mid to upper 80s. For tomorrow and Friday, we go from mostly cloudy, to a mix of sun and clouds with only isolated afternoon showers and storms. High will range from the upper 80s to lower 90s both days.
BIRMINGHAM ALMANAC: For August 6th, the average high for Birmingham is 91° and the average low is 72°. The record high is 101° set in 1930, while the record low is 56° set in 1948. We average 0.14” of precipitation on this date and the record value is 2.55” set in 1952.
USA BRIEF: Extreme heat will begin to peak across the Desert Southwest. Multiple days of hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to bring fire weather concerns for portions of the Four Corners region into the central Great Basin and Rockies. Heavy rainfall and a flash flooding threat continues in the Southeast. Poor air quality persists from the Upper Midwest into the Northeast due to wildfire smoke.
WEEKEND WEATHER: Afternoon highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s with some afternoon and evening showers and storms on a daily basis. Nothing unusual for mid-August in Alabama. Rain chances both days this weekend will be in the 20-30% range; meaning some spots will get rain, while most spots will remain dry.
HOTTER NEXT WEEK: Heat levels will continue to climb and low to mid 90s are expected to return as the upper ridge begins to rebuild across the Deep South. Expect only isolated, random, pop-up showers and storms each afternoon and evening for much of next week.
IN THE TROPICS: Three features the National Hurricane Center continues to monitor. For now, no threat to Alabama, or the U.S. from any of the features.
TROPICAL STORM DEXTER: A “fish storm” impacting no land…At 1100 AM AST, the center of Tropical Storm Dexter was located near latitude 39.9 North, longitude 58.2 West. Dexter is moving toward the east-northeast near 15 mph and this general motion is expected to continue with some increase in forward speed over the next few days.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 50 mph with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Dexter is expected to transition into a powerful extratropical cyclone during that period. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 999 mb (29.50 inches).
Elsewhere, off the Southeastern United States, a weak area of low pressure has formed from a surface trough, several hundred miles off the coast of the southeastern United States. However, this system is currently producing only limited shower and thunderstorm activity and development is likely to be slow to occur during the next few days. Thereafter, environmental conditions could become a little more conducive for development. A tropical depression could still form by this weekend as the low initially drifts westward before turning northward to northeastward by the weekend. Formation chance through 7 days…medium…40 percent.
Also, in the Central Tropical Atlantic, a tropical wave over the eastern tropical Atlantic continues to produce a broad area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for gradual development during the next few days, and a tropical depression could form late this week or over the weekend as the system moves generally west-northwestward to northwestward across the central tropical and subtropical Atlantic. Formation chance through 7 days…medium…60 percent.
The next names up are Erin and Fernand.
WORLD TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation outside the U.S. was 121.6F at Basrah International Airport, Iraq. The lowest observation was -98.1F at Vostok, Antarctica.
CONTIGUOUS TEMPERATURE EXTREMES: Over the last 24 hours, the highest observation was 117F at Cibola, AZ. The lowest observation was 27F at Foxpark, WY and Peter Sinks, UT.
