The Tuesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
Don't forget we also posted the new WeatherBrains podcast today featuring Dr. William Gray:
http://www.weatherbrains.com/
All of our video and audio products are also available on iTunes...
SHORT TERM: You know, the headline I wrote for this post isn't exactly profound. "Very Warm Weather To Continue"... DUH! I can probably use that until early September. I need to find a good creative headline writer for the summer.
The radar is showing nothing as I write this, and it looks like the cap will keep us dry this evening. I expect a similar day tomorrow; mostly dry and very warm with temperatures peaking between 87 and 90 degrees.
THURSDAY/FRIDAY: We will continue to mention some risk of afternoon storms Thursday and Friday, but the 12Z GFS run sure looks dry; it keeps most of the storms north of here over the Tennessee Valley. The NAM continues to trend toward a better chance of scattered storms, but it has not done well in the past several days. Highs hold in the upper 80s for most spots.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Very warm, very humid, a decent amount of sunshine each day, and the risk of a few widely scattered afternoon and evening storms Saturday through Monday. Another words, very typical late May weather for Alabama. Afternoon temperatures should be pretty close to 90 degrees.
AT THE BEACH: Just a few widely scattered storms each day through the weekend; about 8 to 10 hours of sunshine each day with highs in the 79 to 82 degree range. The sea water temperatures along the Alabama and Northwest Florida coast remain in the mid to upper 70s, keeping afternoon highs cooler down there. The upper low in the central Gulf will continue to move to the east and won't be much of a factor for the central Gulf coast.
Speaking of the beach, I have updated "Spann's Best Way To The Bama Beaches"... scroll down to read it. Highlights so far include a stop at the Cahaba River in Bibb County for a peek at the rare Cahaba Lilies, and some good BBQ just down the road in Brent. I will have the entire trip finished by Thursday evening. If you read this blog, you know my fondness for the backroads of Alabama. Hopefully you will spend some time "off the beaten path" on your way to the beach and check out at least a few of my suggested stops.
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!
Very Warm Weather To Continue
May 23, 2006, 2:01 pmWEATHER BY THE NUMBERS--Tuesday 5/23
May 23, 2006, 12:36 pm
* 12 is the approximate number of ballgames I have played with Little Miss Molly in the last two days and I am worn out.
* 103 below zero is the projected temperature tomorrow night at Vostok, Antarctica at the same time that winds will be averaging 15 mph. That is going to produce a wind chill of 170 below zero!
* 74 was the sea surface temperature this afternoon at Panama City Beach. That is typical of the water temperature near the NW Florida-Alabama coastline.
* 1.73 inches is all of the rain that Phoenix has received in nearly 8 months. That is only 31% of normal. I am fearful that Arizona, New Mexico and other parts of the West will have a tragic fire season.
* 84 is the number of days with total sunlight each year at Barrow, Alaska. The down side is that they have 69 days that are totally dark.
* 101 at Wink, Texas was the USA high yesterday.
* 26 at Vanderbilt, Michigan was the coldest in the lower 48 this morning.
* 1.1 is the average number of person per square miles in Alaska. That is what you call a sparse population.
* 1/6th is the USA land area that is taken up by Alaska.
* 103 below zero is the projected temperature tomorrow night at Vostok, Antarctica at the same time that winds will be averaging 15 mph. That is going to produce a wind chill of 170 below zero!
* 74 was the sea surface temperature this afternoon at Panama City Beach. That is typical of the water temperature near the NW Florida-Alabama coastline.
* 1.73 inches is all of the rain that Phoenix has received in nearly 8 months. That is only 31% of normal. I am fearful that Arizona, New Mexico and other parts of the West will have a tragic fire season.
* 84 is the number of days with total sunlight each year at Barrow, Alaska. The down side is that they have 69 days that are totally dark.
* 101 at Wink, Texas was the USA high yesterday.
* 26 at Vanderbilt, Michigan was the coldest in the lower 48 this morning.
* 1.1 is the average number of person per square miles in Alaska. That is what you call a sparse population.
* 1/6th is the USA land area that is taken up by Alaska.
WeatherBrains Episode 17
May 23, 2006, 5:01 am
This week's WeatherBrains, our 30 minute podcast, is on the server, and on iTunes:
http://www.weatherbrains.com/
In this week's podcast:
-We talk with the man considered the nation's top hurricane prediction expert... Dr. William M. Gray of Colorado State University's Dep't. of Atmospheric Science, shares his latest predictions for the 2006 Atlantic Basin hurricane season and discusses other aspects of tropical weather forecasting;
-Dr. Gray gives us his views on global warming and why he believes it has nothing to do with recent hurricane activity;
-The growing politicization of global warming by politicians and the news media, and its wide-ranging effects, from personal attacks on scientists like Dr. Gray to research driven by financial interests over scientific interests.
http://www.weatherbrains.com/
In this week's podcast:
-We talk with the man considered the nation's top hurricane prediction expert... Dr. William M. Gray of Colorado State University's Dep't. of Atmospheric Science, shares his latest predictions for the 2006 Atlantic Basin hurricane season and discusses other aspects of tropical weather forecasting;
-Dr. Gray gives us his views on global warming and why he believes it has nothing to do with recent hurricane activity;
-The growing politicization of global warming by politicians and the news media, and its wide-ranging effects, from personal attacks on scientists like Dr. Gray to research driven by financial interests over scientific interests.
by James Spann
in Podcast
Summer-Like Weather Here To Stay
May 23, 2006, 4:52 am
The Tuesday morning map discussion video is on the server:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
The video is also available via iTunes. Speaking of that, our weekly 30 minute podcast "WeatherBrains" will be posted shortly. We have a great interview this week with Dr. William Gray, and needless to say we will be talking about hurricanes and "global warming".
SUMMER PATTERN SETS UP: We are getting into the time of year when we really can't describe weather changes here by "cold fronts", "high pressure", and other stuff TV weather people like to say. Instead, we will be watching things like the daily seabreeze front, the strength of the capping inversion aloft, outflow boundaries, areas of differential heating, and other mesoscale features that might give us a clue about afternoon storm formation.
And, it is hard to totally say there is no chance of rain during the summer in Alabama. The chance of a "pop-up" afternoon shower or storm is almost a given on a daily basis from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
This past weekend, we mentioned the chance of isolated afternoon storms, and clearly wrote that MOST NEIGHBORHOODS will be dry. I got an e-mail yesterday from someone all upset because on Friday "James Spann said it was going to rain over the weekend", and there was no rain at his house and the weather was mostly sunny. There is no doubt it is time to write my annual blog post on how to use summer weather forecasts in Alabama, because the e-mail guy, needless to say, doesn't get it. I won't be able to do it this week, since I am in the midst of my series called "Spann's Best Way To The Bama Beaches", but I will get to that early next week.
I will have part two of the beach trip available later today; this year we are starting off by checking out the Cahaba River Lily near West Blocton.
TODAY/TOMORROW: While we can't rule out a few isolated storms in the afternoon with an old surface boundary somewhere around here, most places will stay dry and warm. Highs well into the 80s, with increasing dewpoints and humidity.
THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Afternoon showers and storms should be a little more active on these days with an upper impulse passing north of Alabama, driving yet another weakening surface boundary down this way (notice I don't like to call them cold fronts). The storms will be scattered, but some spots will probably get wet, especially along and north of I-20.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Very typical late May weather... very warm, humid, and a few isolated afternoon showers and storms around. Highs in the 87 to 90 degree range Saturday through Monday. For now we don't see anything out of the ordinary.
AT THE BEACH: Don't be freaked out by the big mass of clouds in the eastern Gulf; that is on the east side of an upper low, not a surface based system. Tropical storm formation is not likely in the Gulf this week, and the weather from Gulf Shores to Panama City looks pretty good with just isolated showers and storms and a decent amount of sunshine. Sea water temperatures just off the coast are still in the mid to upper 70s, but they should exceed 80 soon.
I will have the next afternoon map discussion video posted by 3:30 today... the next segment of the beach trip will be posted by the evening, and the WeatherBrains podcast with William Gray will be up in minutes!
http://www.jamesspann.com/
The video is also available via iTunes. Speaking of that, our weekly 30 minute podcast "WeatherBrains" will be posted shortly. We have a great interview this week with Dr. William Gray, and needless to say we will be talking about hurricanes and "global warming".
SUMMER PATTERN SETS UP: We are getting into the time of year when we really can't describe weather changes here by "cold fronts", "high pressure", and other stuff TV weather people like to say. Instead, we will be watching things like the daily seabreeze front, the strength of the capping inversion aloft, outflow boundaries, areas of differential heating, and other mesoscale features that might give us a clue about afternoon storm formation.
And, it is hard to totally say there is no chance of rain during the summer in Alabama. The chance of a "pop-up" afternoon shower or storm is almost a given on a daily basis from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
This past weekend, we mentioned the chance of isolated afternoon storms, and clearly wrote that MOST NEIGHBORHOODS will be dry. I got an e-mail yesterday from someone all upset because on Friday "James Spann said it was going to rain over the weekend", and there was no rain at his house and the weather was mostly sunny. There is no doubt it is time to write my annual blog post on how to use summer weather forecasts in Alabama, because the e-mail guy, needless to say, doesn't get it. I won't be able to do it this week, since I am in the midst of my series called "Spann's Best Way To The Bama Beaches", but I will get to that early next week.
I will have part two of the beach trip available later today; this year we are starting off by checking out the Cahaba River Lily near West Blocton.
TODAY/TOMORROW: While we can't rule out a few isolated storms in the afternoon with an old surface boundary somewhere around here, most places will stay dry and warm. Highs well into the 80s, with increasing dewpoints and humidity.
THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Afternoon showers and storms should be a little more active on these days with an upper impulse passing north of Alabama, driving yet another weakening surface boundary down this way (notice I don't like to call them cold fronts). The storms will be scattered, but some spots will probably get wet, especially along and north of I-20.
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND: Very typical late May weather... very warm, humid, and a few isolated afternoon showers and storms around. Highs in the 87 to 90 degree range Saturday through Monday. For now we don't see anything out of the ordinary.
AT THE BEACH: Don't be freaked out by the big mass of clouds in the eastern Gulf; that is on the east side of an upper low, not a surface based system. Tropical storm formation is not likely in the Gulf this week, and the weather from Gulf Shores to Panama City looks pretty good with just isolated showers and storms and a decent amount of sunshine. Sea water temperatures just off the coast are still in the mid to upper 70s, but they should exceed 80 soon.
I will have the next afternoon map discussion video posted by 3:30 today... the next segment of the beach trip will be posted by the evening, and the WeatherBrains podcast with William Gray will be up in minutes!
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