On this date 26 years ago, after a wild and sleepless night in Mobile, photographer Dwayne Syltie and I wrapped up a frantic session of shooting video, and was in the process of making the long drive up I-65 to Birmingham. It was part of my first week as the lead weather anchor at WAPI-TV, Channel 13; a week I will never forget.

We were dispatched to cover hurricane Frederic; storm that wiped out much of the Alabama Gulf coast ( and started quite a building boom), and also created major damage in the city of Mobile. We rode out the storm in Azalea Middle School in Mobile along with about 500 evacuees. To this day I still think that is a great story that is rarely told; now you mostly see the pretty TV people standing on the coast with their hair blowing, as though they are the big story. We opted to tell the story of the people in that shelter from the storm. This, of course, was before satellite trucks, so there was no way to provide live video. However, I did manage to find one working phone line in the school and did a “phoner” during the 10:00 news on Channel 13 with Frederic approaching landfall. The storm peaked in intensity around 2:00 a.m. on September 13, and conditions improved greatly around sunrise as we finally came out of the shelter. We only had a few hours to shoot damage video before having to hit the road the get the video on our 5:00 news in Birmingham. We flew back down a few days later when President Carter toured the coast.

Dwayne passed away a few years ago after a long career at Channel 13; I miss the times we got together and reminisced about the Frederic experience. We wound up doing a thirty minute special on the storm; I would imagine that is still stored away in the video vault somewhere up at Channel 13.

The memories of Frederic are amazingly fresh in my mind despite the years flying by at light speed.

After getting about 100 copies of an e-mail that includes "incredible pictures of Hurricane Katrina" rolling into New Orleans, I figured I would try and stop them...

Those images circulating around the Internet are from a supercell thunderstorm in Iowa in 2004! They have absolutely nothing to do with Katrina or any hurricane.

Read more on Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/storm.asp

The Monday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

The weather here still looks mostly dry for the next ten to fifteen days. And, afternoon temperatures should remain above normal.

A weak front will drift down here late this week, but with limited moisture and no upper support, I still think any showers will be very isolated, and most places will stay dry. No tropical or mid-latitude systems to deal with for a while. Still looks like this will be one of the driest Septembers on record in Alabama.

Also, no sign of any really cool air for the next 15 days as the main upper flow remains north of here. Like many others, I really enjoy the first good cold front of the season that gets us down in the 40s and 50s at night. We might have to wait until October.

I should mention here another code orange air quality alert has been issued for the Birmingham metro area for tomorrow... due to particulate pollution AND ground level ozone. So... here are the action points:

*Carpool or take the bus; combine errands into one trip
*Walk or ride a bike for short trips
*Limit idling-avoid drive thru’s
*Mow the lawn another day
*Don’t burn leaves or trash


TROPICS: Ophelia continues to hang around off the coast of the Carolinas... now a tropical storm. The dry air around the system and the cooler water from upwelling is taking a toll. Most models move the system over the Outer Banks of North Carolina in about 36 hours; then northeast on a course parallel to the upper Atlantic coast. But, two models keep the thing in about the same place for five more days. Ophelia might be the tropical system that never goes away.

Elsewhere the rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet for now. We do have a wave around 12N/35W, and a big wave about to come off the coast of Africa.


J.B.'s afternoon forecast package is in... will have that over on the seven day page shortly...

The Monday morning map discussion video is on the server:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Today is the 12th day of September, and for most Alabama communities this is the 13th day in a row with no rain. Our last rain in Birmingham came on August 30 when the total was 0.11"; that rain was associated with Hurricane Katrina.

Still looks this will be one of the driest Septembers on record; there is little significant chance of rain for the next 15 days if the GFS is correct. We will mention an outside risk of a shower Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but the best chance will be up north, close to the Tennessee border near a stalled front. That front fizzles out by Sunday and early next week.

We have to wonder if we will get any rain all month.

There is a code orange air quality alert for the Birmingham metro today due to particulate pollution, and temperatures will reach the 90 degree mark in most places. Not exactly a nice "fall day". More like a mid-summer day, but with less humidity. Afternoon temperatures should stay above normal for the next week or so, with highs in the 88 to 92 degree range on most days.

TROPICS: Ophelia has been moving to the west over the past 24 hours, but should turn north, and then northeast later in the week in response to the upper trough now over the northwest U.S. Should move over the Outer Banks of North Carolina in a day or two, and then staying just off the upper Atlantic coast during the rest of the week. The system doesn't look extremely healthy this morning; it is a category one storm and I am not sure it can get much stronger. It has been fighting dry air and cooler water below thanks to upwelling.

Elsewhere the Atlantic basin is pretty quiet.. we will watch a disturbance north of Puerto Rico, and another wave in the central Atlantic near 12N/35W, but that one will probably recurve.

FREDERIC: Enjoyed reading Bill Murray's posts on Frederic, which moved into Mobile Bay on this date in 1979. Wow... that was my first week on Birmingham television. Where have the years gone. I was in Mobile during that storm; I will write a few comments tonight.