Brian Peters has the weekend forecast for Alabama and an update on Florence from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
TODAY: Florence remains a tropical storm this morning as it drifts through South Carolina, continuing to produce storm surge on coastal areas and maintaining heavy rain over portions of North and South Carolina.
Alabamians are waking up to a clear sky across the state this morning with temperatures in the lower half of the 70s. Looks like a sunny day in store for the state, with highs again pushing into the lower 90s. Seems summer-like temperatures just keep holding on.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Auburn hosts LSU this afternoon (2:30 p.m. kickoff) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The sky will be mostly sunny with a kickoff temperature near 90 degrees, falling into the upper 80s by the fourth quarter.
Alabama travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on Ole Miss this evening. The sky will be mostly clear for the 6 p.m. kickoff. The temperature will fall from near 88 at kickoff into the low 80s by the final whistle.
UAB hosts Tulane today at Legion Field with a noon kickoff. The sky will be mostly sunny with temperatures rising from 87 at kickoff to near 90 by the fourth quarter.
TROPICS: Florence, now a tropical storm, continues to produce severe storm surge and freshwater flooding across parts of the Carolinas; it looks like rain totals could be in excess of 3 feet in spots by Sunday. The system will drift through South Carolina today and Sunday, still producing heavy rain while the wind field weakens.
Florence will have no impact on Alabama’s weather besides keeping us dry.
Tropical storms Joyce and Helene in the eastern Atlantic are moving north to northeast and are no threat to North America. Isaac dissipated over the eastern Caribbean early this morning. And a tropical wave moved into south Texas, bringing potential for heavy rain there.
NEXT WEEK: High pressure will help to keep our weather sunny and dry through much of the week ahead. An upper ridge will be the primary feature in our weather pattern through the end of next week. The remnants of Florence slowly move northwest and north before becoming an open wave and accelerating into the Atlantic by Tuesday.
A strong trough in the westerlies moves into the Great Lakes region by the end of the week, trailing a cold front into the Mid South region. This, together with increased moisture, will bring isolated showers back into the forecast for Thursday and Friday and into next weekend. Temperatures all week should be in the range of 89 to 92 as summer holds tough. There is some promise to slightly lower temperatures with added moisture and clouds Friday and Saturday.
LONG TERM: Looking out into voodoo country, we get to follow the movements of a large ridge as it migrates westward, becoming centered over Texas from Sept. 23 through Sept. 27. But the Global Forecast System promises a big change, with a fairly strong and deep trough setting up over the eastern U.S. by Sept. 30.
BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.
WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute netcast any time on the web, or on iTunes. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including meteorologists at ABC 33/40.
For more weather news and information from James Spann, Brian Peters and other members of the James Spann team, visit AlabamaWx.