Scattered thunderstorms now have shifted southward all the way to the south third of the state. So this will probably be our final update unless something really big flares up.
But we must celebrate these lower 4 pm dew points:
54 at UAH, Huntsville
55 at Cullman and Meridianville
56 at Huntsville
People in Extreme North Alabama can already feel a noticeable drop in humidity.
Drier air still struggling to get into the Birmingham area where the dew point was 69.
Late Afternoon Final (?) Update
August 23, 2006, 4:50 pmDewpoints Are Dropping
August 23, 2006, 3:28 pm
The Wednesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
How about that dry air moving into the northern part of Alabama... the dewpoint at Decatur is down to 59! Someone up in the Tennessee Valley might have a chance at reaching 60 degrees early tomorrow morning for a brief taste of fall. The surface front is somewhere just south of Birmingham, and accordingly most of the showers and storms have shifted to the southern half of the state. They actually developed initially today over the southern part of the Birmingham metro; we picked up 0.21" here at our Riverchase studio around the lunch hour.
TONIGHT/TOMORROW: Looks mostly dry for the northern half of the state. The mercury should rise into the 90s tomorrow, topping out between 90 and 95. The heat should be a tad more comfortable, however, due to the lower dewpoints and humidity levels.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY: The 12Z GFS has come in a little more aggressive with the moisture return, so we will need to mention at least a chance of an afternoon in scattered spots Friday and over the weekend. The GFS MOS looks too wet and too cool; I think highs will be in the low 90s each day. Bottom line is that the weekend should feature some fairly routine late August weather for Alabama.
NEXT WEEK: Another surface front approaches from the north, which might enhance the coverage of afternoon showers and storms over the first few days of the week. The 12Z GFS continues the idea that the front will not have enough southward push to bring cooler or drier air in here; the front stalls out somewhere over Tennessee during the mid-week period and dissipates there.
TROPICS: Tropical Storm Debby continues to fight cooler water as the system moves to the northwest. It should recurve north, and then northeast before getting close to the Bermuda, and well east of the U.S. The system is a threat only to ships, and it will have a hard time reaching hurricane status. Possible, but not especially likely.
The most interesting system to us is the one a few hundred miles east of the Windward Islands. This should become a tropical depression within the next 24 to 36 hours, and should move through the Caribbean on a prime path that would make it a Gulf of Mexico storm. If this one becomes a tropical storm the name will be Ernesto. It needs to be watched. Wonder if the Sahara air layer (dry air) will prevent development... the system will be close enough tomorrow for a hurricane hunter to reach it and we will know much more then.
OZONE ALERT: A code orange ozone alert will be in effect for the Birmingham metro area tomorrow... that means air quality could be unhealthy for sensitive groups of people, like those with asthma.
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow...
http://www.jamesspann.com/
How about that dry air moving into the northern part of Alabama... the dewpoint at Decatur is down to 59! Someone up in the Tennessee Valley might have a chance at reaching 60 degrees early tomorrow morning for a brief taste of fall. The surface front is somewhere just south of Birmingham, and accordingly most of the showers and storms have shifted to the southern half of the state. They actually developed initially today over the southern part of the Birmingham metro; we picked up 0.21" here at our Riverchase studio around the lunch hour.
TONIGHT/TOMORROW: Looks mostly dry for the northern half of the state. The mercury should rise into the 90s tomorrow, topping out between 90 and 95. The heat should be a tad more comfortable, however, due to the lower dewpoints and humidity levels.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY: The 12Z GFS has come in a little more aggressive with the moisture return, so we will need to mention at least a chance of an afternoon in scattered spots Friday and over the weekend. The GFS MOS looks too wet and too cool; I think highs will be in the low 90s each day. Bottom line is that the weekend should feature some fairly routine late August weather for Alabama.
NEXT WEEK: Another surface front approaches from the north, which might enhance the coverage of afternoon showers and storms over the first few days of the week. The 12Z GFS continues the idea that the front will not have enough southward push to bring cooler or drier air in here; the front stalls out somewhere over Tennessee during the mid-week period and dissipates there.
TROPICS: Tropical Storm Debby continues to fight cooler water as the system moves to the northwest. It should recurve north, and then northeast before getting close to the Bermuda, and well east of the U.S. The system is a threat only to ships, and it will have a hard time reaching hurricane status. Possible, but not especially likely.
The most interesting system to us is the one a few hundred miles east of the Windward Islands. This should become a tropical depression within the next 24 to 36 hours, and should move through the Caribbean on a prime path that would make it a Gulf of Mexico storm. If this one becomes a tropical storm the name will be Ernesto. It needs to be watched. Wonder if the Sahara air layer (dry air) will prevent development... the system will be close enough tomorrow for a hurricane hunter to reach it and we will know much more then.
OZONE ALERT: A code orange ozone alert will be in effect for the Birmingham metro area tomorrow... that means air quality could be unhealthy for sensitive groups of people, like those with asthma.
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow...
Quick 2:50 pm Look at Alabama
August 23, 2006, 2:52 pm
Scattered thunderstorms have shifted a bit further southward. Most were across about the south half of the state.
And moving SE.
Earlier, there were several thunderstorms in Shilby County but they moved to the SE.
Nathan Jones, 3340 Skywatcher for Helena reported three showers in less than two hour at Helena with a total rainfall of 0.81.
Shelby County has been a popular place for thunderstorms lately.
And moving SE.
Earlier, there were several thunderstorms in Shilby County but they moved to the SE.
Nathan Jones, 3340 Skywatcher for Helena reported three showers in less than two hour at Helena with a total rainfall of 0.81.
Shelby County has been a popular place for thunderstorms lately.
Early Afternoon Thunderstorms--1 o'clock Report
August 23, 2006, 1:05 pm
They are already forming early this afternoon, mostly over Central and South Alabama south of the Birmingham area. At 1:00 p.m. they were located in these areas:
WEST ALABAMA
Perry
Hale
Sumter
Marengo
EAST ALABAMA
Tallapoosa
South Clay
Chambers
Lee
A few thunderstorms were also developing in Central Shelby County. That county has been a magnet for big thunderstorms lately.
Probably the most numerous storms extended from south of Ashland southeastward to near Phenix City and adjacent Columbus, Ga.
A stalled front is located somewhere over North-Central Alabama, we believe in the general vicinity of Birmingham. However, the dew points do not support that. The dew point was 73 in Birmingham and 75 in Tuscaloosa, but in the lower 60s over the Tennessee Valley.
Not quite as hot this afternoon. At midday, the temperatures were in the low to mid 80s across the north and central sections.
WEST ALABAMA
Perry
Hale
Sumter
Marengo
EAST ALABAMA
Tallapoosa
South Clay
Chambers
Lee
A few thunderstorms were also developing in Central Shelby County. That county has been a magnet for big thunderstorms lately.
Probably the most numerous storms extended from south of Ashland southeastward to near Phenix City and adjacent Columbus, Ga.
A stalled front is located somewhere over North-Central Alabama, we believe in the general vicinity of Birmingham. However, the dew points do not support that. The dew point was 73 in Birmingham and 75 in Tuscaloosa, but in the lower 60s over the Tennessee Valley.
Not quite as hot this afternoon. At midday, the temperatures were in the low to mid 80s across the north and central sections.
WEATHER BY THE NUMBERS--Mid-week Edition 8/23/06
August 23, 2006, 11:13 am
* 121 was the hottest in the USA Tuesday in Death Valley--what a surprise
* 30 was the low this morning down here in the lower 48 connected states at Stanley, Ida., and West Yellowstone, Mont. Got a call from a long-time friend this morning and they had driven through West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park yesterday. He said they were not that impressed. I need to have a talk with that guy.
* 103 was the high in Dallas-Fort Worth Tuesday (wonder how many 100+ days thay have had this summer)
* 100 was the high in Fort Worth on this date in 1989. I mention that because it was their first 100 of that summer, in sharp contrast to this summer and especially the summer of 1980.
* 6643 feet is the highest point in Tennessee (Clingman's Dome)
* 2407 feet is the highest point in Alabama, Mt. Cheaha. As you approach the area from the west side (through Munford) or from the NE side you would think you were in the Great Smoky Mountains.
* 806 feet is the highest point in Mississippi. It is Woodall Mountain in the NE corner of the state about 30 miles or so west of Cherokee, Ala.
* 30 minutes is how old Bill Murray was when he developed an interest in baseball. He was probably tossing toy balls from his crib. He is the most avid baseball fan I have ever known. Wonder what he thinks of the five-game sweep of the Red Sox by the Yankees.
* 80+ inches is how much rain the SW coast of Norway gets each year, but the extreme NE part receives only 10 to 20 inches annually.
* 37 is the present temperature at Ushuaia, Argentina. That town is located at the south tip of Argentina and exposed to oceans on three sides. Because of that they can have some extremely rough weather. I want to write a story about that place one day.
* 14 years in a row is how many years Arica, Chile went without a drop of rain. That city is located at the very north tip of Chile, in a deep valley, but only a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. But, remember, south of the equator, weather systems move from east to west so it does not help being so close to the Pacific. In a great departure from normal, a few years ago they had major flash-flooding. Their normal annual rainfall is about 0.03 per year, about the same amount that Kim Langston gets from each thunderstorm near Winfield. (Just teasing Kim. She is one of our 3340 Skywatchers)
* 4 hours is how long Little Miss Molly spent under the bed yesterday. Be glad when winter gets here so she will not get scared by that mean old thunder.
LIGHTNING AND HOUSES
Have you ever hear of so many houses getting struck by lightning this summer? I do not think stats or kept on that specifically, but this seems like a record year.
SOME ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS NOT PREVIOUSLY POSTED
3.50 inches NE of Clay near where Jefferson, Blount and St. Clair meet
0.76 at Centre (Weiss Dam)
0.42 at Neely Henry Dam (Ohatchee area)
0.63 at Montgomery
1.55 at Selma
0.81 at Demopolis Lock and Dam
0.35 at Oliver Dam (Tuscaloosa)
1.26 in Dothan
* 30 was the low this morning down here in the lower 48 connected states at Stanley, Ida., and West Yellowstone, Mont. Got a call from a long-time friend this morning and they had driven through West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park yesterday. He said they were not that impressed. I need to have a talk with that guy.
* 103 was the high in Dallas-Fort Worth Tuesday (wonder how many 100+ days thay have had this summer)
* 100 was the high in Fort Worth on this date in 1989. I mention that because it was their first 100 of that summer, in sharp contrast to this summer and especially the summer of 1980.
* 6643 feet is the highest point in Tennessee (Clingman's Dome)
* 2407 feet is the highest point in Alabama, Mt. Cheaha. As you approach the area from the west side (through Munford) or from the NE side you would think you were in the Great Smoky Mountains.
* 806 feet is the highest point in Mississippi. It is Woodall Mountain in the NE corner of the state about 30 miles or so west of Cherokee, Ala.
* 30 minutes is how old Bill Murray was when he developed an interest in baseball. He was probably tossing toy balls from his crib. He is the most avid baseball fan I have ever known. Wonder what he thinks of the five-game sweep of the Red Sox by the Yankees.
* 80+ inches is how much rain the SW coast of Norway gets each year, but the extreme NE part receives only 10 to 20 inches annually.
* 37 is the present temperature at Ushuaia, Argentina. That town is located at the south tip of Argentina and exposed to oceans on three sides. Because of that they can have some extremely rough weather. I want to write a story about that place one day.
* 14 years in a row is how many years Arica, Chile went without a drop of rain. That city is located at the very north tip of Chile, in a deep valley, but only a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. But, remember, south of the equator, weather systems move from east to west so it does not help being so close to the Pacific. In a great departure from normal, a few years ago they had major flash-flooding. Their normal annual rainfall is about 0.03 per year, about the same amount that Kim Langston gets from each thunderstorm near Winfield. (Just teasing Kim. She is one of our 3340 Skywatchers)
* 4 hours is how long Little Miss Molly spent under the bed yesterday. Be glad when winter gets here so she will not get scared by that mean old thunder.
LIGHTNING AND HOUSES
Have you ever hear of so many houses getting struck by lightning this summer? I do not think stats or kept on that specifically, but this seems like a record year.
SOME ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS NOT PREVIOUSLY POSTED
3.50 inches NE of Clay near where Jefferson, Blount and St. Clair meet
0.76 at Centre (Weiss Dam)
0.42 at Neely Henry Dam (Ohatchee area)
0.63 at Montgomery
1.55 at Selma
0.81 at Demopolis Lock and Dam
0.35 at Oliver Dam (Tuscaloosa)
1.26 in Dothan
by J.B. Elliott
in General Thoughts
A Dark Early Morning
August 23, 2006, 6:30 am
The Wednesday morning map discussion video is on the web, and also available on iTunes:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
The video is available in both Windows Media and Quicktime format... you can take your pick!
NOT AS MUCH DAYLIGHT: I am really beginning to notice the "shorter days"... the sunrise time is now 6:15. Pretty dark out there when the ole alarm clock goes off at 4:52 a.m. The sunset today will come at 7:24 p.m. On our "longest day" the sun sets at 8:01.
ANOTHER GOOD SOAKING: Scroll down for some rain reports from yesterday's storms... my total here in North Shelby County from last night was 0.51". Not far away, our SKYCAM at Inverness went over one inch, and the two day total there was three and a half inches.
Birmingham now has a rain surplus of about five and a half inches for the year (5.44"
, and most Alabama communities have seen some very generous rain in the past few weeks. I still challenge the idea of this part of Alabama (the I-20 corridor) being in a true "drought" in terms of meteorology. A drought in my opinion is a much longer term issue; we simply went through a "dry spell" early in the summer. Yes, that dry spell certainly impacted agriculture and water resources. But a true meteorological drought would have been much worse.
Our friends down in South Alabama have a great argument for drought conditions, however, where Mobile has a rain deficiency of 18.18" for the year.
TODAY: The old surface boundary seems to be just north of Birmingham this morning; the dewpoint in Decatur has dropped to 64, while the dewpoint in Birmingham is 71. Anniston's dewpoint is 74. The front should sag slowly to the south, but it has no upper support and won't move too much. I have to wonder if we have backed off on the chance of rain too much for today for the I-20 corridor... the northern third looks dry but I would not be shocked to see a few showers around here later today unless that front decides to move south of Birmingham.
TOMORROW THROUGH THE WEEKEND: The most numerous showers and storms should be found over the southern third of Alabama, with only isolated showers over the Tennessee Valley. Any afternoon showers and storms here should be pretty widely spaced. Highs will be in the 90 to 95 degree range.
NEXT WEEK: The GFS continues to back off on the strength of the system over the northern U.S. next week, and the front on the 00Z run stays north of here. So much for the idea of cooler and drier for the middle of next week. That front will probably give afternoon shower and storm production a boost during the first half of the week.
TROPICS: The tropical weather business is picking up, which it should considering we are getting into late August.
Tropical storm Debby is moving northwest toward the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and it will be fighting relatively cool SSTs, so major strengthening is not likely. All of the models recurve Debby into the westerly winds aloft before reaching Bermuda, and well east of the U.S. mainland, so this one wont be making too many headlines. Get the latest NHC advisories and graphcis over on our tropical page:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/tropics.hrb
The wave about 500 miles east of the Windward Islands has the potential to become a tropical depression today or tomorrow, and the models take it into the Caribbean. Seems to be in a good latitude for this to become a Gulf of Mexico storm. This one will be fighting the dry Sahara dust layer (like all systems this year); it will be very interesting to see if it can get its act together. Watch the video and you can see model output on that one.
Disturbed weather continues in the northwest Caribbean and the southern Gulf, but no sign of any surface feature with that, and no organization.
ABC 33/40 SKYWATCHERS: Thanks to all our Skywatchers for the excellent reports the last few days. This volunteer team reports weather conditions to us in real time with instant messaging. Despite the great radar technology we have, you can't beat a pair of trained eyes looking at a storm.
We would like to add more Skywatchers to our team, especially in rural areas. Learn more about the program here:
http://beta.abc3340.com/external.hrb?p=skywatchers&w=1
JOIN THE PARTY: Great weather stories and info on our sister site, WeatherParty.com:
http://weatherparty.com/
Register and you can be an editor! Submit and vote on links. Very cool stuff.
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon!
http://www.jamesspann.com/
The video is available in both Windows Media and Quicktime format... you can take your pick!
NOT AS MUCH DAYLIGHT: I am really beginning to notice the "shorter days"... the sunrise time is now 6:15. Pretty dark out there when the ole alarm clock goes off at 4:52 a.m. The sunset today will come at 7:24 p.m. On our "longest day" the sun sets at 8:01.
ANOTHER GOOD SOAKING: Scroll down for some rain reports from yesterday's storms... my total here in North Shelby County from last night was 0.51". Not far away, our SKYCAM at Inverness went over one inch, and the two day total there was three and a half inches.
Birmingham now has a rain surplus of about five and a half inches for the year (5.44"
, and most Alabama communities have seen some very generous rain in the past few weeks. I still challenge the idea of this part of Alabama (the I-20 corridor) being in a true "drought" in terms of meteorology. A drought in my opinion is a much longer term issue; we simply went through a "dry spell" early in the summer. Yes, that dry spell certainly impacted agriculture and water resources. But a true meteorological drought would have been much worse.Our friends down in South Alabama have a great argument for drought conditions, however, where Mobile has a rain deficiency of 18.18" for the year.
TODAY: The old surface boundary seems to be just north of Birmingham this morning; the dewpoint in Decatur has dropped to 64, while the dewpoint in Birmingham is 71. Anniston's dewpoint is 74. The front should sag slowly to the south, but it has no upper support and won't move too much. I have to wonder if we have backed off on the chance of rain too much for today for the I-20 corridor... the northern third looks dry but I would not be shocked to see a few showers around here later today unless that front decides to move south of Birmingham.
TOMORROW THROUGH THE WEEKEND: The most numerous showers and storms should be found over the southern third of Alabama, with only isolated showers over the Tennessee Valley. Any afternoon showers and storms here should be pretty widely spaced. Highs will be in the 90 to 95 degree range.
NEXT WEEK: The GFS continues to back off on the strength of the system over the northern U.S. next week, and the front on the 00Z run stays north of here. So much for the idea of cooler and drier for the middle of next week. That front will probably give afternoon shower and storm production a boost during the first half of the week.
TROPICS: The tropical weather business is picking up, which it should considering we are getting into late August.
Tropical storm Debby is moving northwest toward the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and it will be fighting relatively cool SSTs, so major strengthening is not likely. All of the models recurve Debby into the westerly winds aloft before reaching Bermuda, and well east of the U.S. mainland, so this one wont be making too many headlines. Get the latest NHC advisories and graphcis over on our tropical page:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/tropics.hrb
The wave about 500 miles east of the Windward Islands has the potential to become a tropical depression today or tomorrow, and the models take it into the Caribbean. Seems to be in a good latitude for this to become a Gulf of Mexico storm. This one will be fighting the dry Sahara dust layer (like all systems this year); it will be very interesting to see if it can get its act together. Watch the video and you can see model output on that one.
Disturbed weather continues in the northwest Caribbean and the southern Gulf, but no sign of any surface feature with that, and no organization.
ABC 33/40 SKYWATCHERS: Thanks to all our Skywatchers for the excellent reports the last few days. This volunteer team reports weather conditions to us in real time with instant messaging. Despite the great radar technology we have, you can't beat a pair of trained eyes looking at a storm.
We would like to add more Skywatchers to our team, especially in rural areas. Learn more about the program here:
http://beta.abc3340.com/external.hrb?p=skywatchers&w=1
JOIN THE PARTY: Great weather stories and info on our sister site, WeatherParty.com:
http://weatherparty.com/
Register and you can be an editor! Submit and vote on links. Very cool stuff.
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon!
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