In case you missed this earlier today, here is the NWS storm survey on the wind damage in northern Shelby county last Friday:

ALZ011>015-017>050-091200-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1215 PM CDT MON AUG 8 2005

...SURVEY OF MICROBURST WIND DAMAGE EVENT IN NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY ON FRIDAY...AUGUST 5...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGIST SURVEYED THE STORM DAMAGE THAT OCCURED IN NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY IN THE EARLY EVENING HOURS OF FRIDAY...AUGUST 5.

THE DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS EVENT RESULTED IN A LARGE AREA OF SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE IN THE GREYSTONE...BROOK HIGHLAND...INVERNESS...AND SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS...WITH SEVERAL POCKETS OF SLIGHTLY MORE CONCENTRATED DAMAGE.

THE WORST OF THESE POCKETS OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 655 PM CDT...WHEN THE THUNDERSTORM MICROBURST REACHED GROUND LEVEL NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF U.S. 280 AND STATE ROUTE 119. THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE WAS IN THE VICINITY OF GREYSTONE COUNTRY CLUB...WHERE TWO CANVAS WITH METAL FRAME AWNINGS AT THE CLUB HOUSE RECEIVED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE.

SOME SHINGLES OFF THE HOMES... AND NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE ALSO DOWNED....ALONG THE 11TH TEE BOX AND FAIRWAY. ADDITIONAL SCATTERED TREES WERE DOWNED ALONG THE FAIRWAYS OF AT LEAST 3 OR 4 OTHER HOLES. TREES WERE ALL LARGE...OLDER OAK...AND PINE TREES...SEVERAL FEET IN DIAMETER...AND AT LEAST 50 FEET TALL. DAMAGE RANGED FROM TWIGS AND LARGE SIDE BRANCHES THAT WERE SNAPPED OFF...TO LARGE TREE TRUNKS THAT WERE BROKEN OFF HALF WAY UP...WITH A HANDFUL OF TREES THAT WERE UPROOTED INTACT. ALL TREE AND OTHER DAMAGE OCCURRED IN A EAST TO NORTHEAST TO WEST TO SOUTHWEST DIRECTION.

OTHER POCKETS OF SLIGHTLY MORE CONCENTRATED TREE DAMAGE...MOSTLY LARGE BRANCHES BROKEN OFF...WITH AN OCCASIONAL UPROOTED TREE...INCLUDED THE AREA AROUND MEADOWLARK LANE...JUST OFF US-280...BEHIND LLOYDS RESTAURANT... AND THE NORTH END OF KERRY DOWNS NEIGHBORHOOD IN INVERNESS. THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS AT US-280 AND BROOK HIGHLAND PARKWAY WERE ALSO DOWNED AND ENDED UP STREWN ACROSS THE ROADWAY.

NO INJURIES OR FATALITIES OCCURRED. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR SHELBY COUNTY AT 633 PM CDT AND EXPIRED AT 700 PM CDT.
$$

A cluster of heavy showers and thunderstorms was over the SW edge of Bibb County and Extreme NW Perry County, near Heiberger shortly after 6 pm.

Lots of lightning alsop.

They were all moving slowly toward the SW and, if they hold up, they will be moving into East Hale County and will approach Greensboro.

Also some moderate to heavy showers in Blount County, NE of Birmingham.

At 5 pm, you can find showers in all parts of the state. A number of them producing heavy rain.

But they are relatively small.

They are fooling around and moving very little.

Very heavy rain at the south tip of Jefferson County near Tannehill State Park Those are part of a line of showers that extends southward to near Centreville, in Bibb County, and Marion in Perry County.

Loud thunder now in Helena, but it is off to the west of town.

At first glance, the radar seems to show numerous showers.

But we estimate that if all of the showers in the state were placed side-by-side, only 8 to 10 percent of the land area would be covered at any one time.

A narrow line of heavy showers extends from SW of downtown Birmingham SW to near Tannehill State Park.

They are moving ever so slowly almost due south.

Not a great deal of lightning so far.

They are in progress this afternoon. They are circulating counter clockwise because of a low aloft over Central Alabama.

For example, storms in East Alabama are moving slowly NW.
Storms north of Birmingham moving slowly west
Storms in West Alabama moving slowly SW

Strongest storms at 3:40 pm:

Talladega County
Along Shelby/Talladega County line moving west into Shelby County
West of the Birmingham area
Cherokee County moving in from NW Georgia
North Marengo County
NW Walker County

Some are producing heavy rain

No warnings yet

The Monday afternoon map discussion is on the server:

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

Storms are firing up on radar as I type this around 1:30 p.m... they should fill in nicely over the next few hours, and rotate around the upper low seen at 700 mb around Auburn and Opelika. Some strong storms are likely, and some places will see heavy amounts of rain. Some dry air aloft might enhance downdrafts through the evening hours...

Afternoon storms should be a good bet again tomorrow, but over the latter half of the week they should become fewer and more widely spaced as heights begin to rise. The height at 500 mb (about 19,000 feet off the ground) is forecast to rise from 5881 meters this morning to 5911 meters by Wednesday evening. Understand we are not taking afternoon showers and storms out of the forecast later this week, they simply should be widely scattered.

Temperatures will rise to near 90 over the latter half of the week. Still no signs of excessive heat here, but I do note the 12Z run of the GFS shows the dreaded "594 circle" at 500 mb in the August 21-23 time frame, centered just northwest of here. I don't think that will be the beginning of any serious heat problems.

TROPICS: Harvey will move slowly through the north Atlantic this week. That thing might be hanging around up there at Christmas time. And, Irene seems to be reorganizing, and is now forecast by the NHC to be southwest of Bermuda by Saturday morning. I get the idea the steering currents might collapse around Irene this weekend, and lets not write this thing off just yet. Our friends along the Atlantic coast will still need to watch that system.

OK... have to shave the facial hair and head into the TV office to watch the storms bloom on radar. J.B. will be around for storm updates for the rest of the afternoon here on the blog.

There are only 21 names in the World Meteorological Organization list of hurricane names for the North Atlantic. With NOAA predicting 18-21 named tropical systems this year and Dr. Bill Gray forecasting 20, you have to seriously consider the possibility that we could exhaust the list of names.

I asked Frank Lepore, the Public Affairs Officer for the National Hurricane Center what would happen if we actually had more than 21 named storms. Here was his response:

"The National Hurricane Operations Plan, FCM-P12-2005, dated May 2005, page 3-9 provides that "If over 21 tropical cyclones occur in a year, the Greek alphabet will be used following the W-named cyclone.""

He added a bit of interesting information concerning the storm names that were retired last year:

"For your background Colin replaces Charley, Fiona replaces Frances, Igor replaces Ivan, and Julia replaces Jeanne for 2010."

Igor...that already sounds like a bad one.

- Bill Murray

The Monday morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

Thanks to Brian Peters for handling these video updates last week while I spent some time with my family. Watch the video this morning and see the best facial hair I can grow in seven days. Certainly more I can grow on top of my head in years. Gotta find the razor by mid afternoon.

We have a well defined circulation at 700 mb (about 10,000 feet up) around Troy and Ozark, over southeast Alabama, so today should be very similar to yesterday with storms rotating around that feature (meaning they will move from southeast to northwest up here). Like recent days, some heavy rain is likely in spots, and a few strong storms will form as well by early afternoon. As always this time of the year, we will have to watch for wet microbursts, but the potential doesn't look as great as the setup this past Friday.

Highs today will be only in the mid 80s for most places; about five to seven degees below normal for early August in Alabama.

Heights will slowly rise over the latter half of the week, which means afternoon showers and storms should thin out Wednesday through Friday as temperatures move back toward the 90 degree mark.

Still NO sign of any excessive heat during the next 16 days (mid 90s or hotter)... I still think the hottest weather of the summer is behind us. Hey, I am even beginning to see some nice colors showing up in some leaves, which is a sign fall can't be that far away. Another good sign of fall coming soon is that we have Monday Night Football returning on ABC 33/40 tonight.

Looks like typical summer weather for the weekend ahead, with partly sunny days and the risk of a few scattered storms each afternoon.

TROPICS: Nothing threatening the U.S. this week. Irene and Harvey will stay out over the open Atlantic, and the eastern Atlantic and African wave train for the moment seems pretty benign.

SHUTTLE: No landing this morning due to clouds over Florida.

JENNINGS: Sad to read of the death of ABC newsman Peter Jennings this morning. I did not agree with his politics or point of view on many issues, but the guy was very, very smooth. He was quite the example for those of us who need to ad-lib often; he rarely made a mistake on the air. His knowledge of world issues was also remarkable.

He also seemed like a person who indeed was searching for the truth; I hope he found it before his death. I also hope his death makes smokers pause and think about what they are doing.

Will have the next update on the web by 3:30 today as I get "back in the saddle".