On our 5:00 news yesterday, one of our anchors read some news copy that said Tuscaloosa had temperatures “near 100 degrees”. Anytime I hear news scripts involving weather that are not exactly accurate I always check with the producer to see where the information came from (and our 5:00 producer is excellent; one of the best in the business). He told me he saw video from one of our Tuscaloosa photographers that showed a bank sign indicating a temperature of 98 degrees at midday yesterday. So, according to that thermometer, he was correct. But, the problem is that the bank sign was incorrect. The actual high in Tuscaloosa yesterday was 94, right at normal levels for mid to late July in west Alabama.

In the summer we always hear from people who tell us their backyard thermometer was showing some extremely hot value, sometimes over 15 degrees hotter than the actual temperature. To measure air temperature properly, the sensor needs to be about five to six feet off the ground, over grass, and in an instrument shelter painted white with good ventilation. Most inexpensive “backyard” thermometers are not set up like this, and you simply wind up measuring the temperature of the instrument housing instead of the air. The official reporting sites at airports and National Weather Service offices are set up to properly measure air temperature, and we always recommend that folks compare their readings to those “official” ones.

Of course, we have the “heat index” which takes high humidity levels into account, and those values will indeed be topping out around 100 degrees over the next few days. But, the good news is that I don’t see any long stretch of mid 90s or hotter weather in the days ahead. Those low 90s are hot enough for most people!

The Wednesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

TROPICS: First off, Emily is inland and is indeed producing some beneficial rain across the Rio Grande Valley. A midday check of observations shows McAllen with winds out of the northeast sustained at 26 mph, gusting to 37. A tornado warning is in effect as I write this for a number of counties across the Valley. Lets hope our friends over there get the beneficial rain they need without much wind damage.

AND... just as things begin to calm down in the tropics with Emily inland, the wave we started watching last week in the eastern Atlantic seems to be coming to life, finally. The system is just north of Hispaniola, and has the potential to become tropical storm Franklin over the next 36 hours as upper winds are becoming lighter over the system. Models take this one to the east coast of Florida in a couple of days, somewhere between Daytona Beach and Miami. Watch the video for more.

CLOSE TO HOME: With lots of morning sunshine and surface dewpoints in the mid 70s, I expect scattered to numerous showers and storms again this afternoon. And, like yesterday, some spots will get heavy rain. I need to stress we had one flash flood death in Birmingham yesterday (a car flipped into a flooded area and the driver drowned)... don't mess around with these summer flash floods. Don't drive through any running water over a road. Away from the storms, temperatures will rise into the low 90s, with heat index values nearing 100 in spots.

Still no big change through the weekend. I don't buy the mid and upper 90s advertised by the GFS this weekend; I still think low 90s for most places. We will be on the eastern periphery of an upper air high this weekend, especially on Friday and Saturday, and we will watch to watch for "ring of fire" thunderstorms moving in here from the northwest. Those can produce a ton of lightning and very heavy rain.

Will the new tropical system impact Alabama? Maybe... I doubt if this will have time to regenerate into a major system after crossing the Florida peninsula, but we will surely keep an eye on it...

Had a great time again on WZZK this morning with listeners sharing memories of growing up in Birmingham. Tomorrow we will talk about Alabama getaway spots... I am really looking forward to that. I am filling in for Johnson and Johnson this week... you can listen online at wzzk.com .

Yesterday's storms were so typical of mid-summer in Alabama. Some folks got a drenching while neighbors not that far away had none at all. Selected totals:

1.12 inches at Bankhead Lock and Dam
0.70 at Childersburg
1.12 at Gaylesville (Cherokee County)
0.64 in Haleyville
1.00 at Holt (east edge of Tuscaloosa)
2.00 at Bevil Lock and Dam
1.08 in Centerpoint (after well over one inch the previous day)
1.88 in Clay (near Deerfoot, NE Jefferson County)
0.58 in Pelham
2.64 at Steele (Extreme North St. Clair County, the largest total we have seen)
2.30 three miles east of the old rock school in Pinson on Womack Road (after getting 1.50 the previous day)
(Thanks to Larry Mason for furnishing that two-day total of 3.80 inches)
0.08 in Helena (from Brian Peters)
0.05 in NE Trussville (they passed me by)

She finally made it. Hurricane Emily is inland over NE Mexico this morning and her eye is still very distinct of doppler radar from Brounsville, Texas.

At mid-morning Emily was centered about 75 miles SSW of Brownsville moving west at 10 with sustained winds still as high as 125 mph. She made landfall as a Category 3.

Emily will now gradually weaken over land but now life threatening flash-floods are likely over NE Mexico. Emily may dump 5 to 10 inches of rain, and in some cases 15 inches.

The Lower Rio Grand Valley has been very dry and needed rain badly. Emily has been a Godsend in that respect. Here are some rainfall amounts through 7 o'clock this morning:

1.56 inches at Brownsville
1.86 at Harlingen
0.95 at McAllen
0.63 at Rockport

And, some spot reports at 9 am, CDT

Brownsville...heavy rain, wind east at 33, gusts to 47 mph
Harlingen...light rain, wind east 35, gusts 45
McAllen...light rain, wind NE 20, gusts 31
Edinburg...cloudy...wind east 22, gusts 32

Now...we are watching a new "area of interest" over the Eastern Caribbean. Conditions are unfavorable for development now but that may change later.

TheWednesday, July 21, morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

Showers developed in the heat of the afternoon yesterday and I got a bucket load of thunder at my house. Due to the slow northward drift of showers I didn't think I would see any drops in my rain gauge. But the showers expanded a bit, and I ended up with 8 hundredths of an inch. That is the 14th day out of 19 days this month with measurable rain at my place. Total is over 7 inches so I'm well above seasonal normal for this area.

Emily came ashore this morning in northeast Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane. If you get a chance, the Brownsville radar has an excellent presentation on the hurricane. The IR imagery was excellent, too, but the storm may have weakened enough to not be as spectacular as it was on the visibile imagery yesterday afternoon.

High pressure aloft will maintain a solid grip on our weather through the weekend. In fact, it looks as if our warmest temperatures may come on Sunday and Monday. The GFS is advertising some relief as a substantial trough is being forecast across the eastern United States into the middle of next week. I for one would cast a vote in favor of lower humidity and lower afternoon highs. But high humidity and lower to mid 90 afternoon temperatures go hand-in-hand with summertime in Alabama.

Really had a great trip to Fayette yesterday to speak to the Kollege Kids at Bevill State. Also enjoyed the opportunity to say hello to longtime friends Tommy Williams and Treasa Willcutt while I was there. Tommy has a new handheld weather monitor manufactured by Kestrel, just the model I'd like to get my hands on. Afraid I'm just a gadget freak!!

Stay safe with the weather. And be sure to look up from time-to-time and enjoy the beauty of the weather.

-Brian-