James Spann: Alabama highs hold in the 80s

Published On: 05.02.18 |

By: James Spann

James Spann: Alabama highs hold in the 80s

James Spann takes a look at the rest of the work week, early look at the weekend from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

WARM START FOR THE MONTH OF MAY: Here are some official highs from around Alabama yesterday:

Tuscaloosa — 85
Montgomery — 85
Huntsville — 84
Muscle Shoals — 84
Birmingham — 83
Calera — 83
Anniston — 82

The average high for May 1 is 78 (at Birmingham). We will be well into the 80s again today, tomorrow and Friday as an upper ridge continues to hold, and we expect dry conditions here despite some very active weather across the Great Plains. Days will be partly to mostly sunny; nights will be mostly fair.

A big upper trough will bring a chance of severe storms with large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes again today from Texas to the Great Lakes; higher tornado probabilities are over parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The system responsible for the severe weather across the Great Plains will weaken and lift well to the north of Alabama, but a weak surface boundary will drift in here with a risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms Saturday. We don’t expect the rain to be widespread, and the sun will be out at times. Just know if you have something planned outdoors you might have to dodge a passing shower or thunderstorm during the day. Saturday’s high will be close to 80.

Sunday now looks mostly dry, although a stray shower is possible in a few spots. Otherwise, we expect a mix of sun and clouds with a high close to 80 degrees.

NEXT WEEK: The weather stays warm through the week with highs mostly in the 80s; a few scattered showers could show up over the latter half of the week as moisture levels rise, but the ridge means nothing too widespread, and no risk of severe storms.