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TODAY AND TOMORROW: Not much change in our weather is expected today and tomorrow. Yes, you might see a few showers and storms on the radar during the afternoon and evening hours, but they should be very isolated, and many parts of Alabama will stay dry. Otherwise, expect a pretty decent amount of sunshine both days with highs in the 87 to 90 degree range.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: An upper low forms over the Deep South, and will bring in the idea of a general increase in the number of scattered showers and storms over the weekend. This doesn’t mean the weekend will be completely “rainy”, but there will be a pretty good chance of a few passing showers and storms on a daily basis through Monday thanks to the ULL over the region. There remains some inconsistency in the exact placement of this feature; the 00Z GFS hints the best coverage of showers and storms will come Sunday and Monday. Highs will be mostly in the 80s.
AT THE BEACH: We are forecasting about 7 to 9 hours of sunshine each day along the Gulf Coast from Panama City west to Gulf Shores this weekend, and each day a few passing showers or storms are possible in scattered spots. Highs will be mostly in the low to mid 80s, and the sea water temperatures remain in the low 80s. No sign of any early season tropical mischief in the Gulf. By the way, I will be posting “Spann’s Best Way To The Bama Beaches” a little later this morning.
NEXT WEEK: Showers and storms thin out during the middle of next week, but increase again on Thursday and Friday (June 3-4) in response to an approaching upper trough. Then, the following weekend (June 5-6), a strong upper trough sets up over the eastern third of the nation. The GFS has been very consistent with this idea, and if it works out we will see unseasonably cool air for a day or two here in Alabama. We then warm back up the following week.
ON THIS DATE IN 1973: It was on May 27, 1973 that I saw serious tornado damage for the first time in my life, and it changed my life. The sights and sounds are still fresh in my mind; almost like it happened yesterday. I was wrapping up my junior year at Tuscaloosa High School, and on that Sunday night we received a call for help from our friends in Bibb County. A tornado had gone right through the center of Brent, and amateur radio operators from Tuscaloosa were needed to establish communication with relief agencies in Birmingham and other places. Remember, there were no cell phones in 1973, and this was an urgent need. I arrived with a group from Tuscaloosa within one hour of the tornado, and we were all stunned at what we saw. Eerie darkness, an odd odor (many people that have experienced call it the “smell of death”), roads blocked by trees, and debris everywhere.
I wound up coming back the next morning, and stayed in Centreville (adjacent to Brent) handling communication from a church. Down in Brent, a total of 5 people died in the storm, including Andrew Mitchell, who was attending evening worship services at the Brent Baptist Church, which was destroyed. Many more were injured, and town was just about wiped out by the EF-4 twister. That was actually just a segment of the damage; the tornado first touched down just northeast of Demopolis, and went through Greensboro, where one person was killed and 72 injured. It continued northeast, and took out the old National Weather Service radar site on Alabama Highway 25 before striking downtown Brent.
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Look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 this afternoon… enjoy the day!
