From blog reader Matt Marshall in Utah:

For what it's worth, here's one I took at Alta, Utah on Monday that you
might find interesting.  I have lately been intrigued by black-and-white
photography (after I discovered that our digital camera can do this.
I think it can make an ordinary color picture have a different
quality...more character, or something.

I'll send some color pics your way later this month of the fall foliage
in the Rockies.

Alabama Power lake levels continue to drop

Boat owners should take steps to protect property

BIRMINGHAM – Ongoing dry conditions have resulted in unusually low lake levels on Alabama Power reservoirs on the Coosa, Tallapoosa and Black Warrior rivers. With lake levels expected to continue dropping, people with boats and other water-related equipment and facilities should take the necessary steps to protect their property.

For weeks this summer, drought conditions resulted in lower-than-normal flows into Alabama Power lakes on all three river systems. Recent scattered rains have not been sufficient to make up for the dry conditions, and with the normally dry fall months ahead, lake levels are expected to continue dropping through the end of the year.

On most large storage lakes, levels are already 1 to 2 feet below the typical levels for this time of year, and between 2 and 5 feet below full summer pool. In the next 30 days, Smith Lake and Lake Martin may drop up to an additional 4 feet, Weiss Lake up to an additional 2 feet, and Lakes Harris and Logan Martin up to an additional foot.

Drought operations were anticipated in mid-May and all hydrogeneration was reduced to conserve water for use later in the year, should it be needed. Over the past four months, the water released from Alabama Power reservoirs has been reduced to the minimum amounts required by the company’s federal hydroelectric project licenses. Additionally, in late June, because of continuing dry conditions, the company indefinitely suspended weekend recreational releases of water from Jordan Dam.

Alabama Power must make certain releases from the lakes to meet requirements for navigation, fisheries, water supply, water quality and boating. Depending on rainfall, lake levels can be impacted by these requirements. Alabama Power attempts to balance all the various requirements for water releases and lake levels to meet the multiple uses of the hydroelectric projects.

As of Sept. 6, here are the lake levels on the reservoirs that are most affected by the drought conditions:


Weiss Lake – 560.75 feet or 3.3 feet below summer pool

Neely Henry Lake – 506.0 feet or 2.0 feet below summer pool

Lake Logan Martin – 461.9 feet or 3.1 feet below summer pool

Lake Harris – 787.8 feet or 5.2 feet below summer pool

Lake Martin – 486.1 feet or 3.4 feet below summer pool

Smith Lake – 495.3 feet or 14.7 feet below summer pool


Summer pool is the maximum lake level under normal inflow conditions. Normally, lakes reach summer pool around May 1 and begin to drop in mid to late summer.

People with boats and other water-related equipment and facilities should always be alert to changing conditions on Alabama Power reservoirs and be prepared to take the necessary steps to protect their property.

For updated information about specific lake levels, call Alabama Power's automated Reservoir Information System at 1-800-LAKES11 (1-800-525-3711).

The Wednesday afternoon map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Temperatures are generally running anywhere from 85 to 89 degrees this afternoon across the northern half of the state, and all of the showers on radar are way down south. One heavier shower is sitting over Camden, in Wilcox County. Makes me think of the day J.B. Elliott and I had a great lunch at Dallas Soul Food in Camden.

TOMORROW: While the air near the surface is rather dry, a southwest flow aloft will mean some scattered clouds. Even some hint at a few isolated showers tomorrow afternoon east of I-65, but most places will remain dry.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY: Humidity levels will be rising, and a few widely scattered afternoon showers could show up. But, rain will be light and very spotty, and many communities will remain dry over the weekend. Highs will be mostly in the upper 80s.

NEXT WEEK: The 12Z run of the GFS has backed off a bit on the system expected on Tuesday; it backs off on that while bringing in a stronger system on Thursday. We won't make any big changes in the forecast yet, but hopefully one of those two waves will bring some needed rain to the state. Looks like highs for much of next week will be somewhere between 87 and 90, about normal for this time of the year.

FLORENCE: Sustained winds are up to 50 mph; looks like the system is still fighting shear from the satellite presentation, which is a bit ragged. No change in the model consensus; the north turn should begin over the weekend with the system staying east of the U.S. Atlantic coast. It might come dangerously close to the island of Bermuda early next week.

OTHER TROPICAL TOPICS: The wave in the Caribbean is hanging tough, near the Dominican Republic and Haiti. No sign of any low level circulation, but we will keep watching it. The system behind Florence is really struggling, and with the circulation of Florence being so large it might be absorbed by ole Flo. And, a hybrid type system seems to be forming east of the Georgia/Florida coast, that might bring windy and wet weather to the Atlantic coast as it moves northeast.

JOIN THE PARTY: Be sure and bookmark our sister site, WeatherParty.com:

http://www.weatherparty.com/

That is a treasure trove of great weather stories; and if you register you can submit links and vote on them to determine what shows up on the main page. Very cool.

I sure enjoyed seeing the first graders today down at Vincent Elementary School... look for them on the KIDCAM today on ABC 33/40 news at 5:00! I will have the next map discussion video posted by 7:00 a.m. tomorrow!

The dry, cool air that North Alabama enjoyed last night had trouble penetrating into the south part of the state. This afternoon, a few showers were developing in that area.

Scattered patches of light rain developed over the Extreme Southeast counties. A few slightly heavier showers were over Wilcox County.

Movement is generally eastward...maybe a bit south of due east.

That is what it was over North and Central Alabama this morning where clearing had taken place. However, down south, with clouds that persisted not so. It was 70 in Auburn, 72 in Dothan and Troy, 73 in Evergreen and Mobile amd 74 in Montgomery.

But three cheers (no, a thousand cheers) for these lows:

ALABAMA
55 at Cullman Airport and Desoto State Park
56 in Cottondale and Owens Crossroads
57 at Crossville, Valley Head, Vinemont, Russell Cave
58 at Hartselle, Hightop, Collinsville, Hanceville, Scottsboro
59 at Decatur, Tuscaloosa, Elkton, Russellville Airport
60 at Huntsville, Muscle Shoals, Mumford, Grove Oak, Hazel Green, Scottsboro Airport
61 in Courtland, Ft. Payne, Meridianville, Alabaster, Jasper (Skycam)
62 at Anniston, Arab, Fyffe, Shelby County Airport
63 at Birmingham, Albertville, Hamilton (Skycam)
64 at Guntersville
64 at Gadsden, Inverness, Mt. Cheaha (all Skycam reports)
65 at Harvest
68 at Demopolis (Skycam)

NATIONAL
32 at Stanley, Idaho
31 at Eagle, Alaska

AROUND THIS OLD WORLD
18 at Alert (the northernmost weather station in Canada)
40 at Ojmjakon, Siberia (billed as the world's coldest continuously inhabited place)
5 below zero at Summit, Greenland (on the ice cap, but it is still summer there)

The Wednesday morning map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

The great Alabama weather legened, J.B. Elliott, was doing more pre-dawn research this morning. Be sure and scroll down to see his data from the meteorological summer of 2006... a very interesting read.

RIGHT NOW: Around Alabama on the 5:00 observations, the Cullman Airport, which is actually up at Vinemont, reports 55 degrees and is by far the coolest spot. We wonder if that ASOS site needs calibration, but it could very well be valid. Crossville is showing 57, while Birmingham is at 64. I am sure J.B. will have a roundup of morning lows a little later on the blog (hopefully after he takes a nap. I walked outside a little earlier to enjoy the cool air. Very refreshing.

TODAY: Should be a very nice day with ample sunshine, low humidity, and highs in the mid 80s. Quite pleasant for early September in Alabama.

TOMORROW: While moist air will begin to return, the weather should stay very nice tomorrow. With dewpoints in the 60s it looks unlikely that we can reach the 50s (in most spots), but low 60s sure seem likely early in the morning.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY: I think we have to mention a chance of widely scattered, mainly afternoon showers during these three days. The 00Z GFS even hints at a little short wave on Friday which might bring a fairly decent coverage of afternoon showers. No wash out here, but just keep mind a shower or two is certainly possible over the weekend. Humidity levels will be a little higher, and highs will be mostly in the upper 80s.

NEXT WEEK: Still looks like out best coverage of showers and storms will come on Tuesday with a surface front passing through. The GFS has backed off on the degree of cooling for the latter half of the week, but some lows in the 50s will be possible.

FLORENCE: No change in the thoughts on this tropical storm in the central Atlantic. The system will pass well to the north of Puerto Rico, and will begin the north turn between the Bahamas and Bermuda, into a big weakness in the sub-tropical high to the north of the system. A trough over the eastern U.S. should keep Florence away from our Atlantic coast (the GFS, the GEMS, and the ECMWF remain in very good agreement on this), but it could be a big problem for our friends up in Nova Scotia and the Canadian Maritimes about a week from now. There is a chance Florence could become a major hurricane this weekend. And, needless to say, it remains very early in the game, and with tropical systems "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED".

The system following Florence is having a hard time, it simply be too close to our friend Flo. No sign of any organization at this point, and the wave in the Caribbean shows no sign of development. The Gulf of Mexico is as quiet as a mouse.

VIEWER PICTURES: The quality of digital pictures from our viewers is really amazing... I wish I had the time to post all of them, but if you scroll down you can see plenty of them from last night. Thanks to all of you for sharing your images with us! Don't forget, here on the blog you can view posts by category, and for pictures only just click on the "pictures" link on the right side of the blog under categories.

SKYWATCHERS: Want to help us during active and severe weather? We have a large team of ABC 33/40 Skywatchers that report back to us in real time using instant messaging. Learn more here:

http://beta.abc3340.com/external.hrb?p=skywatchers&w=1

The KIDCAM season is getting cranked up again... I will be doing a weather program today at Vincent Elementary School; but I will be in the office by early afternoon and the afternoon map discussion video should be posted by 3:30 or so!

It was a long, hot summer in Central Alabama and much of the summer was dry. Remember, weather folks count June, July and August as summer which means a total of 92 days. In my opinion, when temperatures reach 90 or higher that it hot. But 95 or higher really wears you down. So I included that category. Lets go across the state on I-20 from east to west:

ANNISTON
* 64 of the 92 days had highs 90 or above
* 31 had 95 or above
* 2 had 100 or above
* The high for the summer was 100 occurring once in July and August
* Rain total for the three months was only 6.81 inches
* 32 of the 92 days had measurable rain
* There were 18 days in a row rainless in June

BIRMINGHAM
* All three months hotter than normal
* 72 of the 92 days had highs 90 or above
* 30 days had 95 or hotter
* 3 days had 100 or higher, 2 in June and 1 in August
* 100 was the high for the entire summer
* Rain total for the three months 12.55 inches, by far the most of the 3 stations
* Only 24 of 92 days had rain (Birmingham got several big amounts)
* Most rain on any one day 2.92 inches

TUSCALOOSA
* 84 of the 92 days had 90 or higher (the heat champion)
* 50 days had 95 or hotter
* It was 100 or higher on 10 days
* 101 was the high for the summer (on 2 days in June and 4 days in both July, August)
* Only 4.82 inches of rain all summer
* Only 19 days with rain
* Most rain in one day 1.21 inches in July
* There were 16 days in a row with no rain in August

FINAL NOTES
* We have been asked, does that mean we will have a real cold winter? No connection. I once did an extensive study of Birmingham records going back to the mid-1880s and I could find no evidence that a hot summer automatically was followed by a cold winter, etc. Am I glad this long summer is over? The answer is yes, yes and yes.

WE CAN STILL HAVE HEAT
* Birmingham had seven days in a row with 100 or hotter in September 1925
* Latest in the year with 100 or higher was September 22, 1925
* In extreme cases, we have had mid 90s well into the first week of October
* Our latest 90+ on record was October 17, 1897 (91)