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...