(Be sure and scroll down to see the nice pix of a shelf cloud at Leeds this afternoon taken by Brandon Harris)

Not much going on around Alabama tonight. At 9 o'clock, light showers were over the NW and a few over NE and SE Alabama.

There was a line of showers from NE Louisiana to NE Mississippi north of Columbus. These showers are along a cold front that will bring Alabama some extremely nice weather starting tomorrow.

More showers will occur across Alabama in connection with the cold front but we don't look for very much additional rain.

The dew point has dropped to the 40s over North Arkansas--meaning much drier air.

Rainfall across Alabama today was quite variable but a number of places received some heavy rain. Here are some amounts both big and small:

0.44 at Clay (NE Jefferson County)
0.55 at McCalla (SW Jefferson County)
0.75 at Morris
0.68 at Crumly Chapel
1.10 in North Auburn
1.22 in Oneonta
1.00 at Alpine (Talladega County)
1.40 at Blount Springs
0.71 at Blountsville
0.90 at Logan Martin Dam
1.05 at Holt Dam (east side of Tuscaloosa)
0.50 in Downtown Birmingham (33/40 Skycam)
0.32 at Gadsden (Skycam)
0.04 at Gulf Shores (Skycam)
0.01 at Hamilton (Skycam)
0.58 in Inverness (Skycam)
0.38 atop Mt. Cheaha (Skycam)
0.45 in Downtown Tuscaloosa (Skycam)
0.38 in Concord/Hueytown
1.00 at Courtland
0.97 in Desoto State Park
0.85 at Huntsville Airport
0.59 at Cullman Airport (Vinemont)
0.76 at Muscle Shoals
0.66 at Montgomery (Dannelly Field)
0.61 at Mobile Airport
0.57 at Anniston Airport
0.34 at Birmingham Airport
0.46 in NE Trussville

We need to cherish all the rain we can get. We are headed into what is normally our driest time of the year (the last of September and all of October)

Filing this post from D/FW Airport... about to head home.

Going through a ton of e-mail... here is a great shot of a shelf cloud in Leeds today between 2:00 and 3:00 thanks to ABC 33/40 Skywatcher Brandon Harris:

Most of that line of heavy showers and thunderstorms has moved over into Georgia. However, the south end of the line is still down in SE Alabama.

Across North and Central Alabama, there were no thunderstorms early this evening and most of the showers were light. There was a lone heavier shower moving into the west edge of Colbert County in Extreme NW Alabama.

Off to our west, there was a line of showers--moderate to heavy--over NW Mississippi into North Louisiana. So, our rain is not over for tonight.

Here are a few rainfall reports so far from today's action:

1.22 inches in Oneonta
1.00 at Alpine (Talladega County)
1.40 at Blount Springs
0.71 at Blountsville
0.90 at Logan Martin Dam
1.05 at Holt Dam (east side of Tuscaloosa)

The Monday afternoon map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Don't forget that the map discussion is available in both WMV and MOV formats (Windows and Quicktime), so you have your choice for viewing.

I'm sitting in for the traveling James Spann this afternoon as he attends a meeting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before winging his way back toward Central Alabama this evening. Sure hope the thunderstorms don't disrupt air travel too much for him or I may be sitting in for him tomorrow morning, too.

Thunderstorms rolling across the state today ahead of a cold front which was poised in the vicinity of Memphis at mid-afternoon. Rainfall much less than I expected but additional showers and thunderstorms will be possible late the afternoon and this evening before the cold front finally moves through the area early Tuesday. Rain chances begin to drop off afer midnight tonight and I think most of us will be dry for the daytime hours tomorrow. In fact, western sections of Central Alabama may well see clearing tomorrow afternoon. Temperatures behind the front will be cooler with morning lows dipping into the 50s with some readings falling into the 40s. Afternoon highs will stay in the 70s for the next couple of days.

Warming begins late Thursday and continues into Friday as another storm system begins to develop in the Central US and move eastward. It will drag a front into the area late Friday and Saturday bringing a rain threat to Friday night football and college football too. The upper level trough with the next system looks pretty potent so I would not be surprised to see something of a severe weather threat. Unlike this system, we might have drier air aloft increasing the instability. Time will tell so we'll be watching as it evolves over time.

In the longer term the GFS is bringing a substantial upper level high into the Southeast US and parking it here. Right now it would appear that the last bit of September will be somewhat quiet, but you know the track record of long range forecasts.

Getting my share of filling in what with filling in for Jason on the noon show and filling in for James on the map discussion. Keeps me busy and out of trouble...okay, it keeps me busy!! See you down the road.

-Brian-

The NWS continues a Significant Weather Alert for these counties:

Cleburne
Calhoun
Cherokee
East Montgomery
East Elmore
Tallapoosa
Chambers
Clay
Randolph
Macon

For downpours of rain accompanied by wind gusts as high as 45 mph. Also frequent lightning.

At 4:35, a line of strong thunderstorms extended from Cherokee County in NE Alabama southward to near Montgomery.

Moving steadily toward the east.

FROM OUR 33/40 SKYWATCHERS
0.38 rainfall at Greystone Farms
0.29 at Alabaster but with wind gusts only about 14 mph
0.16 at Jemison, gusts to 26 mph, high temperature 88
0.14 in Helena, gusts to 26
25-30 mph gusts estimated in Springville
Good soaking in Harpersville

Sorry...a bit late with this update...technical difficulty.

At 3:40 pm that long line of Alabama thunderstorms extended from Fort Payne in the northeast...and southwestwatd to Gadsden, Talladega and Rockford...to 15 miles west of Montgomery and then into SW Alabama.

Line moving steadily eastward.

This is not all of the showers and storms. Others are still over Mississippi and even Arkansas.

In Alabama this line of storms had been consistent in producing brief heavy downpours and strong gusty winds in the 30-40 mph range. For example, when it moved through NE Trussvile, we got wind gusts to about 35 mph and 0.46 of an inch of rain in about 15 minutes.

More updates as the afternoon goes on...

...hope the coffee holds out...

Showers and storms continue eastward across Alabama this afternoon.

At 2:20...the main line of showers and storms extended from east of Huntsville, southward along the Cullman/Blount County line...through West Jefferson, approaching Birmingham, then to near Tuscaloosa, Mondville and Eutaw in West Alabama. 33/40 SkyWatcher reported heavy rain at Locust Fork in Blount County.

That is not all of the storms by any means. Other heavy showers were near Camden, in Wilcox County, for example.

Temperatures have soared into the 80s and even near 90 in some places.33/40 Skywatchers reported 87 in West Blocton and 90 in Alabbaster a few minutes ago. However, a shower brought the Alabaaster temperature down a few degrees.

Showers and thunderstorms were getting a little better organized this afternoon through West Alabama. The main line now extends generally along the Huntsville-Hartselle-Cullman line down through Walker, Tuscaloosa, Hale and Marion Counties. Some of the stronger thunderstorms, however, were over West Alabama's Sumter County near Livingston.

The SPC (Storm Prediction Center) has placed part of West Alabama under a slight risk of severe thunderstorms. This risk area is generally from near Hamilton and Jasper southward to about the Livingston area.

Dew points have risen considerably today and there has been a break in the cloud cover allowing some heating. This, among some other things, has caused the atmosphere to become a little more unstable.

At Cordova in Walker County, very heavy rain was reported within the last hour with some wind gusts to about 35 mph. Many sections will get locally heavy rain for the remainder of this afternoon and tonight. Brisk NW winds will be blowing across the state tomorrow bringing a noticeable drop in dew points (translation: humidity). We may see our lowest temperatures since last spring by Thursday morning. Have not finalized the afternoon forecast yet, but have tentatively selected 48 as the Thursday morning low.

Our 33/40 skywatcher in Huntsville just reported a wind gust to 36 mph with heavy rain.

Showers and thunderstorms were increasing over West Alabama early this afternoon but the lines of storms are not as distinct as earlier.

The main line extended roughly from Moulton and Haleyville in NW Alabama down into East Mississippi and into South Mississippi.

However...there was another line from near Double Springs and Carbon Hill down across West Tuscaloosa County to near Demopolis and Livingston.

Still another line of showers (and some thunderstorms) over East Central and SE Alabama very close to the Georgia border. Strongest ones were over Henry and Barbour County in SE Alabama.

But...the strongest thunderstorms of all extend across East Central and South Mississippi.

SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER
The atmosphere has become more unstable over part of East and SouthMississippi and SW Alabama. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has now placed part of SW Alabama under a slight risk of severe. In Alabama, this is from about Eutaw and Demopolis southward to Mobile.

The main line of showers and thunderstorms has entered NW Alabama, but the bulk of it is still over in Mississippi.

At 11:15, the line extended from near Athens and Russellville in NW Alabama down across NE Mississippi into Central and South Mississippi. The line was moving toward the east. Some of the strongest thunderstorms were over Central and SW Mississippi based on lightning returns.

Out ahead of that main line of storms, there was a line of showers and a few thunderstorms running interference over East Alabama, mainly from near Heflin southward to Union Springs and Ozark. Also, over in West Alabama, a smaller line seems to be forming from near the Pickens-Tuscaloosa line down to near Eutaw and west of Livingston. Everything is moving toward the east and NE.

This should be a significant rain event for Alabama with many areas getting between 1 and 2 inches of rain. Here in Central Alabama, including places like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, Talladega and Clanton, the heaviest part of the rain will be this afternoon and tonight.

Here are some examples of how heavy the rain has been with this storm system as it moved eastward:
4.16 inches in Jonesboro, Arkansas
2.51 in Fayetteville, Arkansas
2.61 in Pinebluff
2.49 in Oklahoma City
2.41 in Corpus Christi
1.90 in San Antonio
2.27 in Little Rock
1.94 in Memphis

FINAL NOTES
Interesting that for the first time in a long, long time the hottest temperature in the nation Sunday did not reach 100. It was 98 in Thermal and Woodland Hills, California. Cold temperature this morning included 18 in Stanley, Idaho and Elk Peak, Montana and 22 at Red Rock Mountain and Adler, Montana.