J.B. is always great to post rainfall reports, so I thought I would give you a few this evening in celebration of the afternoon rains...

I hope your backyard received beneficial rains on Friday afternoon.

Some rainfall amounts across the state included:

2.71 at Birmingham Airport
1.38 at Evergreen
1.19 at De Soto State Park
1.10 at Crossville
0.29 at Fort Payne
0.18 at Anniston
0.10 at Cullman
Trace at Shelby County Airport

From ABC3340 Weather Watchers::
Justin Maxwell in Leeds reports 0.83
Roger Heath in Crumly Chapel reports 0.16

Radar estimates indicate that over 2.50 inches of rain fell acfross parts of DeKalb County as well as areas around the Birmingham Airport and in the Clay Chalkville area of Northeast Jefferson County.

As much as six inches of rain may have fallen over southern Marengo County according to radar estimates.

It's a little much needed R&R for J.B. tonight as he and his wife play in a Rook tournament...

You've heard of Dinner and a Movie...for us...it is dinner and a forecast. Tonight's movie: Heaven Knows Mr. Allison with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum. Isn't it funny how you can tell whether or not a movie is going to be good just from the opening scene.

I like the opening scenes of this weekend's forecast, with the storms this afternoon. Despite the scattered reports of wind damage and dangerous lightning, the rains were beneficial. It helped Trussville firefighters put out three grassfires that burned along I-59 this afternoon, reducing visibilities.

It's nice enjoying a little of nature's air conditioning here in Trussville where afternoon thunderstorms colled things off to 73F late this afternoon. My air conditioning sure appreictaes the help.

1.26 inches of rain fell here. Just northeast of me, J.B. picked up 1.28 I think. The Airport picked up a whopping 2.70 inches of rain in just one hour.

Temperatures were in the 70s across Central Alabama. Light rain was still falling at Tuscaloosa.

Radar shows light to moderate rain over parts of Tuscaloosa, Pickens, Bibb and Perry Counties. A small area of light rain was over southwest sections of the Birmingham Matro area.

Other showers are over East Alabama over Randolph, Clay and Chambers Counties. Strong storms were near Montgomery, extending down into Southwest Alabama.

kies will clear overnight with a little patchy fog in areas that saw rain today, which is most areas.

Thanks to Eual Holland for these images of a downed tree this afternoon in Tarrant...

Thunderstorms in the Greater Birmingham area had diminished late this afternoon. Also a general decrease into NE Alabama.

Severe Thunderstorm warnings were still ineffect for a thunderstorm along the Bibb-Perry County line and also over NE Coosa County.

2.70 inches of rain in only one hour at Birmingham Airport this afternoon.

Bill Murry will be watching the sky through this evening.

Been a very busy afternoon here... A few quick notes:

*The tropical system east of the Bahamas will approach the south Atlantic coast of the U.S. by Sunday night or Monday. Alabama will be on the dry side of the system; but it will likely produce very heavy rain, and possibly serious flooding, up the I-95 corridor. A rain band or two could slip into East Alabama Sunday night or Monday, but that all depends on how the system evolves.

The NAM and BAM runs take the system into Florida, and then it turns north and northeast up the eastern seaboard. Other models take it to the Carolina coast. It is unlikely this thing becomes as hurricane, but it might be a tropical storm. The big deal will be the rain, and not the wind, one way or another.

*High temperatures will continue to drop over the next few days. Next week looks comfortable, we might see some spots in the 50s by Tuesday and Wednesday morning (cooler valleys). A very nice break from the hot weather.

*Scattered showers and storms possible statewide tomorrow, but by Sunday the best chance could be over the eastern half of the state.

Don't forget to join the party:

http://weatherparty.com/

Register, submit some cool links,and vote on all of them! YOU decide what gets "published" to the front page!

I am going to spend some time away on vacation next week... I will be back in the saddle on Monday July 3. Have a wonderful weekend!

That is the story across North and part of Central Alabama this afternoon. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings continue for:

Tuscaloosa County
Jefferson County
Etowah County
Dekalb County

Numerous reports of trees down in scattered areas this afternoon along with severe lightning and flooding rain. Parts of the Greater Birmingham area got will over 1.50 inches of rain quickly this afternoon.

At 3:45 pm, the line of thunderstorms extended from East Tuscaloosa County northeastward through the Birmingham area...and NE to near Gadsden and Fort Payne and into Cherokee County.

LATE DAMAGE REPORT
At 3:30 pm, numerous trees down in the Centre area of Cherokee County. Reported by the EMA.

ELSEWHERE
One of our regular blog readers reports spectacular lightning at Ocean Springs, Miss., this afternoon. In NW Florida, in Escambia County, a 14 year old boy was struck by lightning.

The Friday afternoon map discussion is available on the web and on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Will have to make this brief due to ongoing weather issues...

Big storms over North Alabama producing heavy rain, even some flooding in spots, strong winds, and some hail. We have had reports of trees down in Blount, Cullman, and Marion counties. Hail reported across much of Gadsden...

Just had a report of a wind gust to 50 mph at the Birmingham Airport...

Will finish discussion shortly... along with tropical update... stay tuned!

* Since 2:30 p.m., 1.28 inches of rain has fallen in Center Point on the NE edge of Birmingham. That occurred in about 45 minutes.

* Very heavy rain continues in NE Trussville with visibility down to about one-half mile. Very frequent lightning.

* It was raining so hard at Birmingham Airport that visibility was near zero.

More reports later.

A line of very strong to severe thunderstorms continues from the Tuscaloosa-Jefferson County line NE across the Birmingham area to near Springville, Gadsden and Ft. Payne. The line of storms is moving east.

A Severe Thunderstorm continues for Jefferson County until 3:30 p.m. Very heavy rain and almost continuous lightning was occurring in Trussville at 3:00 p.m.

DAMAGE REPORTS

* The Etowah County EMA office in Gadsden reports nickel-size hail at 2:20 p.m. all over town.

* At 2:25 p.m., the EMA director in Blount County reported numerous trees uprooted in an area from Blountsville to Cleveland.

* A 14-year-old boy was struck by lightning at 2:45 this afternoon in the Beulah community in Escambia County in NW Florida. This, of course, is adjacent to Alabama's Escambia County. An emergency medical team was rushing him to the hospital. No word yet on the severity of injuries.

* Pea-size hail reported in Albertville, Marshall County at 2:39.

* Around 2:00 p.m. a tornado was reported to have touched down in Gulf Shores. Later the Gulf Shores police reported trees down around Gulf Shores.

The National Weather Service has now issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Jefferson County until 3:30. The storm may produce nickel-size hail and damaging winds. The storm was located near Sylvan Springs in West Jefferson County and moving NE at 15. This is a dangerous storm, not only becuase of the wind and possible hail, but also extremely dangerous lightning.

There are other strong thunderstorms across NE Jefferson County. Lightning is almost continuous in the Trussville area. Most of the strong thunderstorms have moved east of Cullman County. The strongest storms now extend from near Birmingham NE to near Gadsden and into DeKalb County.

Because of pressing duties, we are running a little bit behind on our BLOG updates. We will catch up shortly with a whole lot more information. Stay tuned.