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.
SCATTERED STORMS AGAIN TODAY: Over the past several days, slow moving storms have dropped heavy rain on a number of Alabama communities during the afternoon and evening hours, and we expect the same situation later today in the moist, unstable air over Alabama. The nature of afternoon storms on a summer day in Alabama means feast or famine with rain, some places could see over one inch and localized flooding, while other neighborhoods just a few miles down the road stay dry. That will be the case today, with any one spot having about a one in three chance of getting wet. Yesterday’s high in Birmingham was 93, and we should be close to that again today.
THE RIDGE TAKES OVER: After today, showers and storms will thin out as an upper ridge builds over the state. This will mean heat levels going up in addition to rain chances going down. We figure the high will rise into the mid 90s tomorrow and Wednesday, followed by upper 90s on Thursday and Friday. There should be adequate soil moisture to keep temperatures from hitting the triple digits, but one or two spots could touch 100 degrees briefly during the peak of the heating process. While there is almost always some risk of an afternoon shower or storm this time of the year, they should be hard to find Thursday and Friday with the 5940 500 meter ridge right over us.
WEEKEND PREVIEW: The ridge holds, so the weather will stay hot over the weekend, with highs in the mid to upper 90s and only isolated afternoon storms.
NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: The heat ridge weakens a bit next week; highs drop down into the low 90s with some general increase in the number of afternoon showers and storms. Of course, the placement and coverage of those storms are determined by mesoscale features that can’t be identified far in advance.
TROPICS: About time for things to heat up across the vast Atlantic basin; this morning we have two relatively weak tropical waves over the Caribbean that need to be watched, but things are quiet elsewhere. The peak of the hurricane season usually runs from August through September and early October.
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 this week’s new episode tomorrow morning, and it will be released to the web and iTunes later in the day. Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel will be one of our guests this week. He will be joined by the wonderful Mish Michaels, a Boston area meteorologist who co-hosted the Weather Channel show Atmosphere with Jim.
FOLLOW ALONG: Here are our weather team Twitter accounts….
| James Spann | Jason Simpson | Ashley Brand |
| J. B. Elliott | Bill Murray | Brian Peters |
| Dr. Tim Coleman | WeatherBrains Podcast | E-Warn (AL wx watches/warnings) |
A special thanks this morning to J.B. Elliott, Bill Murray, Brian Peters, Jason Simpson, and Ashley Brand for allowing me some time off last week… we really enjoyed our trip to the Cooperstown Dreams Park, living the dream with our 12-year-old baseball team. I am back in the saddle so the regular two a day schedule will resume today… look for the next Weather Xtreme video here by 3:30 or so. Enjoy the day!
