James Spann: A few showers for Alabama Saturday

Published On: 05.02.18 |

By: James Spann

James Spann: A few showers for Alabama Saturday

WARM MAY DAYS: An upper ridge will keep Alabama warm and dry through Friday with partly to mostly sunny days and fair nights. Temperatures this afternoon are in the 80s, and highs will remain in the 80s tomorrow and Friday. While we enjoy the quiet, calm weather, more severe storms are erupting well to the northwest of Alabama this afternoon, where the Storm Prediction Center has a moderate risk of severe storms defined for parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.

Storms there could produce large hail, damaging wind and tornadoes through tonight.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The big upper trough driving the severe weather event across the Great Plains today and tonight will shear out and weaken, passing well to the north of Alabama. A surface front will drift into Alabama Saturday, and we will mention a chance of scattered showers and storms, but I would not call it a “rainy day.” The front will have little upper support, and the upper ridge will keep the air fairly stable. Rain amounts should be fairly light and spotty, and the sun should be out at times. Saturday’s high will be near 80.

Then, on Sunday, the front washes out and we will mention only a few isolated showers; most of the day should be dry with a mix of sun and clouds. The weather stays warm; Sunday’s high will be in the low 80s.

NEXT WEEK: The ridge remains the big player in Alabama’s weather, and much of the week looks warm and dry. A few isolated showers could show up over the latter half of the week as moisture levels rise, but nothing to suggest anything widespread for now. And we see no severe weather issues for Alabama over the next 10 days.