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

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Don't forget to check out our new site:

http://www.weatherparty.com/

That NASA World Wind program posted on there is way too cool. Weatherparty.com is a "web 2.0" site where you determine what shows up on the main page. If you have a cool weather link (to a story, site, NWS product, radar, satellite, etc), then post it and if it gets enough votes it shows up on the front page. This is a really fun site, and a treasure trove of great weather information. That has become one of my favorite sites.

HEAT AND STORMS: Thanks to J.B. for burning the midnight oil... storms lingered well past midnight. There was even some scattered damage from high winds in the stronger storms. Temperatures across West Alabama were so warm at midnight last night the air remained very unstable, and a westward moving outflow boundary helped with the low level convergence.

TODAY AND TOMORROW: No real change is expected. Afternoon temps will peak in the 95 to 100 degree range, and widely scattered storms will fire up during the peak of the afternoon heat. The storms will linger well into the evening hours.

FRIDAY: The big heat bubble begins to slide to the west; temperatures might back off a few degrees, and there should be a little increase in the number of afternoon storms.

THE WEEKEND/EARLY NEXT WEEK: Sure looks like the prayers for rain will be answered. Showers and storms increasing, heat decreasing. A nice upper trough forms over the eastern part of the nation, and a surface front approaches from the north. By Sunday and Monday most communities will stay below 90, (yep, temperatures below normal and many communities will see beneficial rain. The GFS is pretty agressive with the surface front, and moves it down to I-20 by Sunday. We think the front will stall out closer to U.S. 72, up in the Tennessee Valley.

Periods of rain and a few storms are likely on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week as very moist air lingers and the front dissipates.

DROUGHT? That word is being klcked around these days by the media, and there is no real specific definiition. Different perspectives on drought include meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic... we simply use the meteorological view here since that is what we do. I do not consider this a drought since Birmingham has a surplus of rain for the year 2006. I call it a "dry spell", and thankfully the expected increase in showers and storms in the Saturday-Wednesday time frame should bring some real relief.

SKYWATCHERS: A reminder we are now using a team of volunteer Skywatchers to help us with weather reports and "ground truth" during times of active weather (like last night). The Skywatchers report back to our weather team in real time using Instant Messaging technology. We are delighted with how this is working, and we need more people to help especially in rural areas where there are no official reporting stations. You have a direct pipeline to our weather team 24/7. Want to help and join us? Send me an e-mail message and tell me about yourself:

jspann@abc3340.com

I will have the next map discussion video posted by 3:30 this afternoon!

No Severe Thunderstorm Warnings now in effect in connection with the North Alabama storms.

However storms near Guntersville were growing stronger and will need to be watched.

Here is a followup report from NW Alabama:

3 miles SE of Bear Creek [Marion Co, AL] law enforcement reports HAIL of quarter size (E1.00 INCH) at 01:38 AM CDT -- reports of quarter size hail in western Haleyville...in Marion County.

3 miles SE of Bear Creek [Marion Co, AL] law enforcement reports thunderstorm wind damage at 1:38 AM CDT -- a few trees down in western Haleyville...in Marion County.

...Folding up for a power nap...will be here if something else becomes severe...and will be up by 6 am.

This report from Haleyville Police Department just before 2 am:

OK, storm report- Cherry Hill road on the Marion-Winston line between Haleyville and Bear Creek. Trees down have knock out power to the area, quarter size hail and lots of it. I knocked the windshield wiper cockeyed on my patrol car due to a downed tree and got soaked fixing it. Lots of hail. Marion County Road dept in route to cut trees out of road

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning for:

* NE Marion County in NW Alabama
* NW Winston County in NW Alabama

Until 2:15 am.

The severe thunderstorm was near Haleyville and moving SW at 5 mph...moving generally toward Bear Creek. May produce gusts over 60 and large hail.

Haleyville Police report lots of dime size hail almost covering the ground on Alabama Highway 13 between Haleyville and Bear Creek.

A Haleyville policeman reports the worst lightning he has seen in years.

PS: Anybody still awake reading this BLOG?

At 1:42 am, Haleyville Police Dept. reports lots of dime size hail on Alabama Highway 13 between Haleyville and Bear Creek...not quite covering the ground but close.

Haleyville is in Extreme NW Winston County and Bear Creek in Extreme NE Marion County.

NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for NE Marion County in NW Alabama until 1:45 this morning.

The storm was located near Bear Creek in Extreme NE Marion County and moving SW at 5 mph.

May contain penny size hail and damaging winds over 60 mph. Lightning is unusually severe in this storm.

A policeman on duty at the Haleyville Police Department in adjacent Winston County says that it is the worst lightning he has seen in years.

Scattered thunderstorms continue early on this Wednesday morning across North and NW Alabama. Most of them extend from about Fayette and Walker County NE to the Decatur Huntsville area.

They were moving SW.

The stongest storms were over Winston County around Double Springs. Still lots of lightning and locally heavy rain in those. Could also be some hail. Tops of these storms have built to around 50,000 feet.

We have not received any reports of hail or wind damage since about 11:10 pm.

At 11:10 pm, numerous trees were uprooted in and around Fayette.

This was reported by the Fayette County EMA Office.

In an earlier thunderstorm, large hail, some the size of quarters was reported in the same area.

The intense thunderstorm that was over NW Pickens County in West Alabama weakened as it crossed the Mississippi border...moving toward the SSW.

At midnight, thunderstorms extended in a zone from Pickens County NE across Fayette, NW Walker into Winston County. They were reforming over the area and training toward the SW...or SSW.

A new thunderstorm formed over SW Cullman County near Smith Lake.

Thunderstorm over NW Walker County, near Carbon Hill, has grown stronger.

These storms are loaded with lightning and heavy rain.

Scroll down to see some earlier damage reports.

We are burning the midnight oil and we will be arounduntil these pesky storms fade away.