The Thursday afternoon web video is on the server:

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

Thanks to the kindergarten kids at Meadow View Elementary in Alabaster... a great audience today! And, thanks to Dianne and the crew at the Dairy Queen in Hueytown for the cool ice cream cake. I have been speaking in schools for 27 years and I have never gotten an ice cream cake. As soon as I finish writing this I am going to give it a try.

MORE ACTIVE WEATHER AHEAD...

As advertised, we are getting a nice break from the rain this afternoon. In fact, from Birmingham northward and westward the sun is shining brightly. But, low level moisture is still in place here. Birmingham's dewpoint is 64, while dry air has invaded far northwest Alabama where the dewpoint at Muscle Shoals is 41. Looks like the dry line has stopped just northwest of Birmingham. It might slip past us in the next hour or so, but it won't move much more to the south.

We are getting set for round two of rain and storms late tonight and tomorrow...

SPC maintains a moderate risk of severe storms for tonight from east Texas into west Alabama, but I really think our action will not begin until after midnight, and maybe even toward daybreak. SPC has a slight risk of severe storms for all of Alabama, and that outlook looks good.

We expect rain and storms to become widespread again after midnight tonight into tomorrow morning. In fact, it will be very similar to the storms early today; we will have the possibility of hail and very heavy rain. And, with many spots getting between 1 and 3 inches this morning, flash flooding will be a real possibility. Isolated severe thunderstorms will be possible, but the hail and flood threats will be higher.

The rain will end from west to east during the midday and afternoon hours, and the weekend ahead will be dry.

Way down the road, it still looks like our next strong or severe storm event will come around April 6 (next Wednesday).

Time to try this ice cream cake!

Here are some rain totals around the state...

Yates Dam (Tallapoosa/Elmore county line) 2.83"
Auburn 2.53"
Shelby County Airport 2.44"
Haleyville 2.21"
Lake Martin Dam 2.16"
Pinson 2.09"
Birmingham Airport 1.92"
Roanoke 1.90"
Helena 1.87"
Oneonta 1.80"
Carbon Hill 1.71"
Riverchase 1.61"

The rain will be ending in the Birmingham metro area within the hour...

The Thursday morning web video is on the server:

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

I actually like a stormy morning. Of course, working the night shift, I usually don't have to drive in the rain. I would imagine traffic will be slow going this morning in most places.

I will admit I am really puzzled why SPC has parts of north and central Alabama in a moderate risk of severe weather for today. I expect that to go away on their next update shortly. Or, maybe I am just too sleepy. Here is the way we see it:

TODAY: Rain and storms will slowly sink southward and diminish later this morning, and by noon the WRF shows the rain east of a line from Anniston to Montgomery to Jackson. I expect a nice break from the rain this afternoon and before midnight tonight. I guess you can't totally rule out a few isolated showers, but most places should be dry around here from noon through midnight.

TOMORROW: The second deep upper trough will begin to affect our weather with large scale upward motion, and will interact with the old surface boundary that will be lurking around here somewhere. The models are not in complete agreement with the placement of the surface low. One way or another, I think the main threat tomorrow will come from flooding since the ground is soaked. I expect rain and storms to increase again during the pre-dawn hours, and the weather should be wet through the morning. We cannot rule out a few isolated severe storms; SPC has a slight risk of much of Alabama. But, the best instability values will be over the southern counties, south of U.S. 80.

An additional one inch of rain looks likely, with some spots possibly getting up to two inches tomorrow morning. Then, the rain tapers off tomorrow afternoon.

THE WEEKEND: No rain at all; the sky should clear on Saturday, with a sunny day on Sunday.

NEXT SYSTEM: Still looks like another threat of strong to severe storms on April 6, next Wednesday.

Thanks a bunch to J.B. Elliott, John Oldshue, and Bill Murray for the overnight staffing. Allowed me to catch a nap which will keep me going through the day!

We will keep the blog updated through the day... stay tuned...

It seems that as soon as more new storms form in Mississippi and move into Alabama, others take their place and start marching this way too.

No formal warnings in effect at 5 am but the Severe Thunderstorm Watch continues until 8 am.

Not good that the SPC has much of Central Alabama in a "moderate risk" area today.

It has been a long night...lots of rain, lots of hail...lots of dish-rattling thunder. Many areas have received over three inches of rain.

We have been here all night and will hang out till the watch is over.

Life goes on...and so does the thunder and lightning.

More big thunderstorms rumbling into West Alabama and moving steadily NE.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings now in effect for both Tuscaloosa and Bibb County until 4 am--mainly for NW Bibb County and SE Tuscaloosa County. The storms are moving NE rapidly at 50 MPH.

Also a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Marengo County until 4:15.

Seems no end to the storms!

The watch goes until 8.

These storms will be moving up toward Birmingham.

The night goes on...

Severe Thunderstorm Warning for West Alabama's Sumter and Green County until 3:15 am.

Lots of new storms developing in Mississippi and taking aim for us.

Lightning just struck a tree by Jason Simpson's front door. He said the tree was smoking or steaming. It is probably a mad tree.

Please scan down for other information...so I don't have to repeat so much info from post to post. Thanks...

Not much has changed for this update.

Numerous thunderstorms continue to redevelop west and SW of Meridian and head NE into Alabama.

The watch continues until 8 am.

We will be here all night. About this time of night, coffee no longer tastes good.

Doppler radar estimates show 4 inches of rain near and east of Montgomery.

We need the rain.

We also need sleep.

It's a thunderboomer type of night.

We will be here. Be sure and scan down to see other information including the official list of counties in the Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 8 am.

It goes until 8:00 o'clock on this Thursday morning and covers about 3/4 of the state of Alabama. The counties are:

AUTAUGA BARBOUR BIBB BLOUNT BULLOCK BUTLER CALHOUN CHAMBERS CHEROKEE CHILTON CHOCTAW CLARKE CLAY CLEBURNE CONECUHCOOSA COVINGTON CRENSHAW DALLAS ELMORE ESCAMBIA ETOWAH FAYETTE GREENE HALE JEFFERSON LAMAR LEE LOWNDES MACON MARENGO MARION MONROE MONTGOMERY PERRY PICKENS PIKE RANDOLPH RUSSELL SHELBY ST. CLAIR SUMTER TALLADEGA TALLAPOOSA TUSCALOOSA WALKER WASHINGTON WILCOX WINSTON.

New storms are developing in Mississippi and training toward the NE.

New Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Sumter County in West Alabama

Last batch of storms that moved through produced widespread hail.

Flooding in the Auburn area early this morning with several roads under water.

This is an allnighter...we will be with you...

Stay safe

New Severe Thunder Watch will be until 8 am on this Thursday morning for much of Central and South Alabama.

Thunderstorms backbuilding into Central Mississippi

Lots of storms still moving NE across Alabama. At 1:10 am some of the strongest storms were from Montgomery eastward across Macon and Lee Counties.

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) now has a big chunk of Central Alabama under a Moderate Risk for Thursday. Not good.

A few rainfall reports for the 6 hours ending at midnight:

0.65 at Tuscaloosa Airport
0.77 at Birmingham Airport
1.22 at Montgomery's Dannelly Field

Here is James' evening Weather Talk post...

This Sunday we will “spring forward” and go on Daylight Saving Time. DST begins at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, when we all lose an hour of sleep, but gain an hour of daylight during the evening hours. The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." Daylight Saving Time has been used in the United States and in many European countries since World War I.

During World War I, in an effort to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power, Germany and Austria took time by the forelock, and began saving daylight at 11 p.m. on the 30th of April, 1916, by advancing the hands of the clock one hour until the following October. The plan was not formally adopted in the United States until 1918. 'An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States' was enacted on March 19, 1918. During World War II, President Roosevelt instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, called 'War Time.' (from 2 February 1942 to 30 September 1945). From 1945 to 1966, there was no federal law about Daylight Saving Time. So states and localities were free to choose whether to observe Daylight Saving Time and could choose when it began and ended. This, however, caused confusion -- especially for the broadcasting industry, and for railways, airlines, and bus companies. Because of the different local customs and laws, radio and TV stations and the transportation companies had to publish new schedules every time a state or town began or ended Daylight Saving Time. On 4 January 1974, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Then, beginning on 6 January 1974, implementing the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act, clocks were set ahead for a fifteen-month period through 27 April 1975.