Published On: 08.16.19 | 

By: James Spann

James Spann: Hot afternoon, low humidity for Alabama

James Spann has the Alabama forecast for Friday heading into the weekend from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

PLEASANT START: Thanks to dry air, temperatures have cooled well down into the 60s across parts of north Alabama this morning. Temperatures at daybreak include:

  • Cullman — 63
  • Haleyville — 64
  • Pell City — 64
  • Fort Payne — 65
  • Anniston — 66
  • Sylacauga — 67
  • Prattville — 67

Today will be another sunny day with a high in the 90s, but the humidity will stay unusually low for August in Alabama.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Not much change Saturday. Look for lots of sun with a high in the 90s; any showers will be confined to the far southern counties. Scattered storms will become more numerous over south Alabama Sunday, but most of north Alabama will stay dry with a partly to mostly sunny sky.

NEXT WEEK: An upper trough will bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms to the southern part of the state Monday and Tuesday; unfortunately, global models have backed down on the chance of rain for north Alabama, where it is needed. We will mention only widely scattered showers and thunderstorms for the northern half of the state; otherwise, we’ll see a partly sunny sky with highs in the low to mid 90s. Showers most likely will remain widely spaced through the rest of the week.

TROPICS: Again, the Atlantic basin is very quiet, and tropical storm formation is not expected through early next week.

AIR QUALITY ALERT: A “code orange” air quality alert has been issued for Jefferson and Shelby counties today because of ground-level ozone. The general public is not likely to be affected, but children, active adults and people with respiratory disease such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor exertion, especially during the afternoon.

ON THIS DATE IN 1969: Emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Camille underwent a period of rapid intensification and became a Category 5 hurricane as it moved northward toward the Louisiana–Mississippi region. Despite weakening slightly the morning of Aug. 17, the hurricane quickly re-intensified back into a Category 5 hurricane before it made landfall a half-hour before midnight at Pass Christian, Mississippi. The actual maximum sustained winds of Hurricane Camille are not known, as the hurricane destroyed all the wind-recording instruments in the landfall area. Re-analysis data found peak winds of roughly 175 mph along the coast. A devastating storm tide of 24.6 feet occurred in Pass Christian. Camille is one of only four Category 5 hurricanes ever to make landfall in the continental United States (Atlantic basin), the others being the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, which impacted the Florida Keys; Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which impacted south Florida; and Hurricane Michael in 2018, which impacted the Florida panhandle.

ON THIS DATE IN 1992: One of the most destructive United States hurricanes of record started modestly as a tropical wave that emerged from the west coast of Africa on Aug. 14. The wave spawned a tropical depression on Aug. 16, which became Tropical Storm Andrew the next day.

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