RADAR CHECK: As expected, showers and storms are few and far between across the northern half of Alabama this afternoon; some of the heavier thunderstorms are over Baldwin County in far south Alabama, where some small hail has been reported.
Temperatures are mostly in the 90- to 94-degree range, and the showers and storms will fade away after sunset as the air becomes more stable.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Our weather will look and feel like summer — hot, humid days, a partly sunny sky and random, scattered showers and thunderstorms, mostly during the afternoon hours. The chance of any one spot getting wet is about 1 in 4 Saturday and 1 in 3 Sunday. The high will be around 90 Saturday and in the upper 80s Sunday.
NEXT WEEK: Moist, tropical air will continue to cover Alabama through the week, so we expect little change in the weather. Each day we will see a mix of sun and clouds, and also will have scattered showers and thunderstorms around. They will come generally between 1 and 10 p.m. Afternoon highs will be in the 88- to 91-degree range on most days.
The American global model (the GFS) keeps the idea of a tropical system around toward the end of the week; the 12Z run pushes a tropical low into the Louisiana coast, but the reliable European model (ECMWF) shows absolutely nothing. We will continue to side with the EC, meaning if you are beach bound, no worries about tropical systems for now — just the routine chance of scattered storms next week, something that is in the forecast almost daily on the Gulf Coast June through September. You will see a decent amount of sun each day.
TROPICS: Aletta, in the eastern Pacific off the west coast of Mexico, is now at category four strength with sustained winds of 140 mph. It is moving northwest over open water and is no threat to land.
The Atlantic basin remains very quiet and tropical storm formation is not expected through early next week.
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