James Spann has the midweek forecast for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
GORDON INLAND AND WEAKENING: Gordon made landfall near the Alabama/Mississippi border last night as a strong tropical storm with 70 mph winds. The center this morning is over south Mississippi; it continues to move northwest. The rain shield associated with the storm is over the western half of Alabama, generally west of I-65. Rain will continue over west Alabama through the morning, with little, if any, rain for the eastern counties of the state.
The Storm Prediction Center maintains a marginal risk of severe storms for parts of west and southwest Alabama today, generally south of a line from Gordo to Selma to Greenville.
There is a low-end risk of a few small, isolated, short-lived tornadoes over west Alabama today, on the eastern periphery of the circulation of Gordon. But we have had no tornado warnings overnight, and the overall threat is low. Still, we will watch radar trends.
A flash flood watch remains in effect for southwest Alabama this morning. Farther inland, rain amounts today over west-central Alabama will be in the 1-inch range, but we don’t expect any flooding issues.
TOMORROW: The remnant circulation of Gordon will arc through Arkansas and Missouri, and Alabama will remain in a fairly moist air mass. So we will have the risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially over the western side of the state, where moisture levels are higher. We will experience more clouds than sun, and the high will be in the 80s.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: Friday and Saturday look hot and mostly dry as the ridge rebuilds; afternoon showers are possible, but they should be pretty isolated. Highs will be in the 88- to 91-degree range. Scattered afternoon showers and storms will be a little more numerous over north Alabama Sunday as a surface front creeps southward into Tennessee. The high Sunday will be in the upper 80s.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: For the high school games Friday night, there will be just a small risk of a shower during the first half; otherwise it should be mostly fair and very warm, with temperatures falling though the 80s during the games.
Alabama hosts Arkansas State Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa at Bryant-Denny Stadium (2:30 p.m. kickoff); the sky will be partly to mostly sunny with just a small risk of a shower during the game. The kickoff temperature will be close to 90 degrees, falling back into the 80s by the fourth quarter.
Auburn will host Alabama State Saturday evening at Jordan-Hare Stadium (6:30 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be mostly fair with only a slight risk of a shower during the first half. Temperatures will fall from near 86 at kickoff into the upper 70s by the final whistle.
UAB travels to Conway, South Carolina, to take on Coastal Carolina Saturday evening (6 p.m. kickoff). A shower or storm is possible during the first half of the game; otherwise it will be warm and humid, with temperatures falling through the 80s during the game.
NEXT WEEK: Scattered showers and storms will remain possible on most days next week with a warm, moist air mass in place. Otherwise, look for partly sunny days with highs in the upper 80s.
TROPICS: A new wave over the eastern Atlantic is expected to become Tropical Storm Helene over the next few days. There’s no way of knowing whether this will threaten the Lesser Antilles at this point. Florence is a hurricane in the middle of the Atlantic with 105 mph winds. It is far from land, and it still remains to be seen if this recurves or bends back to the west thanks to a blocking high developing north of the system. Everyone on the East Coast of the U.S. will need to keep an eye on this one in coming days.
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