The Wednesday morning map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:
http://www.jamesspann.com/
Wow... just checked my rain gauge here (at my home in North Shelby County); we had 0.63" last night between 9:00 and midnight thanks to that nice batch of showers that moved across the Birmingham metro area. Some spots in eastern Tuscaloosa County around Vance saw over two inches. Let the parade of showers begin.
The GFS is advertising our best chance of showers and storms from about 1:00 p.m. today through 12:00 noon tomorrow. A nice trio showing up; surface front approaching from the north; deep tropical moisture slipping in here from the west, and an upper trough aloft forming overhead with cooler air aloft. I have to stress rainfall amounts will vary a good bit from neighborhood to neighborhood, but average rain amounts of 1/2 to 1 inch are likely. Some spots might see a little more, others a little less.
With the increase in clouds and showers, temperatures will trend downward. Highs today and tomorrow should be in the 86 to 91 degree range for most spots.
Drier air begins to move into North Alabama tomorrow afternoon, and there is some hint the best chance of showers and storms will shift south of I-20 by afternoon. By Friday we should expect a good supply of sunshine with lower humidity levels.
THE WEEKEND: For now the weather looks rain-free for the northern half of Alabama; afternoon temperatures should peak in the low 90s, with mid 60s during the early morning hours.
Moist air will return early next week, however, and scattered showers and storms will be possible by Monday and Tuesday, mainly during the afternoon and evening hours.
TROPICAL ISSUES: Interesting swirl showing up this morning southeast of Miami. That is an upper low; we will watch that feature. It should be picked up by the developing upper trough over the eastern U.S., but there is some chance it might stay underneath the trough with the system meandering into the southeast Gulf of Mexico. And, we will watch the old surface front over the weekend as it gets into the northern Gulf waters. Old fronts in the northern Gulf can be a great spot for tropical depression formation this time of the year.
LONG RANGE: Could the worst of the summer heat be over? That is a pretty outrageous statement since this is only early July, but an interesting idea. We have already experienced some triple digit heat, but the GFS is suggesting the worst of the heat for the rest of the month will be over the central and western part of the nation. Around here, the heat looks "normal", meaning highs in the low 90s and an almost daily chance of afternoon showers and storms. If we can see a good increase in top soil moisture in the next two weeks, then we might not see a triple digit threat again. But, that is just an idea, not a forecast...
JOIN THE PARTY: Check out our new "social weather network" site, WeatherParty.com:
http://www.weatherparty.com/
Lots of very interesting weather news there... users submit links to weather images, products, or stories; and you vote on them and determine what shows up on the front page. Drop by, register, submit some cool links, and vote on the links others have submitted (you can vote on your own links too
.
LIVE RADAR: Don't forget we have our Pinpoint Doppler Radar available on our live stream anytime... just click on the streaming button on the upper right part of our main weather page:
http://www.abc3340.com/weather/
You can right click over the video and put it in the Real Player, allowing you to make the video any size you want, even full screen.
We streamed the fireworks shows last night at 9:00... we had a great view of the show on Red Mountain, and the one down in Demopolis on the Tombigbee River!
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon...
http://www.jamesspann.com/
Wow... just checked my rain gauge here (at my home in North Shelby County); we had 0.63" last night between 9:00 and midnight thanks to that nice batch of showers that moved across the Birmingham metro area. Some spots in eastern Tuscaloosa County around Vance saw over two inches. Let the parade of showers begin.
The GFS is advertising our best chance of showers and storms from about 1:00 p.m. today through 12:00 noon tomorrow. A nice trio showing up; surface front approaching from the north; deep tropical moisture slipping in here from the west, and an upper trough aloft forming overhead with cooler air aloft. I have to stress rainfall amounts will vary a good bit from neighborhood to neighborhood, but average rain amounts of 1/2 to 1 inch are likely. Some spots might see a little more, others a little less.
With the increase in clouds and showers, temperatures will trend downward. Highs today and tomorrow should be in the 86 to 91 degree range for most spots.
Drier air begins to move into North Alabama tomorrow afternoon, and there is some hint the best chance of showers and storms will shift south of I-20 by afternoon. By Friday we should expect a good supply of sunshine with lower humidity levels.
THE WEEKEND: For now the weather looks rain-free for the northern half of Alabama; afternoon temperatures should peak in the low 90s, with mid 60s during the early morning hours.
Moist air will return early next week, however, and scattered showers and storms will be possible by Monday and Tuesday, mainly during the afternoon and evening hours.
TROPICAL ISSUES: Interesting swirl showing up this morning southeast of Miami. That is an upper low; we will watch that feature. It should be picked up by the developing upper trough over the eastern U.S., but there is some chance it might stay underneath the trough with the system meandering into the southeast Gulf of Mexico. And, we will watch the old surface front over the weekend as it gets into the northern Gulf waters. Old fronts in the northern Gulf can be a great spot for tropical depression formation this time of the year.
LONG RANGE: Could the worst of the summer heat be over? That is a pretty outrageous statement since this is only early July, but an interesting idea. We have already experienced some triple digit heat, but the GFS is suggesting the worst of the heat for the rest of the month will be over the central and western part of the nation. Around here, the heat looks "normal", meaning highs in the low 90s and an almost daily chance of afternoon showers and storms. If we can see a good increase in top soil moisture in the next two weeks, then we might not see a triple digit threat again. But, that is just an idea, not a forecast...
JOIN THE PARTY: Check out our new "social weather network" site, WeatherParty.com:
http://www.weatherparty.com/
Lots of very interesting weather news there... users submit links to weather images, products, or stories; and you vote on them and determine what shows up on the front page. Drop by, register, submit some cool links, and vote on the links others have submitted (you can vote on your own links too
.LIVE RADAR: Don't forget we have our Pinpoint Doppler Radar available on our live stream anytime... just click on the streaming button on the upper right part of our main weather page:
http://www.abc3340.com/weather/
You can right click over the video and put it in the Real Player, allowing you to make the video any size you want, even full screen.
We streamed the fireworks shows last night at 9:00... we had a great view of the show on Red Mountain, and the one down in Demopolis on the Tombigbee River!
I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon...
on July 5, 2006, 6:55 am
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