VERY HUMID DAY: A blanket of moist air continues to cover Alabama today, and we have a number of showers and thunderstorms on radar at mid-afternoon. Like yesterday, they are very effective rain producers thanks to the tropical air mass in place; motion today is to the south and southeast. It’s nothing severe, with not much lightning. The showers will persist well into the night as a broad upper trough remains over the region.

Temperatures remain below average, mostly in the low to mid 80s with only a limited amount of sun today. The average high for Birmingham on July 7 is 91.

REST OF THE WEEK: The overall situation won’t change much Wednesday; we’ll see more clouds than sun with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Highs will remain in the 80s. On Thursday and Friday showers and storms should be a little more scattered and mostly during the afternoon and evening. Heat levels will rise, with a high around 90 Thursday followed by low 90s Friday.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: The weather looks relatively dry Saturday and Sunday, with only isolated afternoon storms; otherwise, look for partly to mostly sunny days with highs between 91 and 95 degrees. We do note we will be in a broad northwest flow pattern, meaning organized thunderstorm areas that form over states like Missouri and Arkansas will have potential to roll down into our state. There’s no way of knowing now if or when it will happen — just a possibility.

NEXT WEEK: The pattern looks very routine for midsummer — hot, humid days, a partly sunny sky and the daily chance of random, scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs will remain in the low to mid 90s.

TROPICS: An area of low pressure over northeastern Georgia continues to produce a large area of showers and heavy rain over portions of the Southeast. The low is expected to move generally northeastward toward the coast of the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic states, and some development is possible later this week if it moves over water. Regardless of development, the low is forecast to produce locally heavy rainfall that could cause flash flooding across portions of the Southeast during the next couple of days.

The rest of the Atlantic basin, including the Gulf of Mexico, remains very quiet.

UPDATED HURRICANE SEASON FORECAST: An updated seasonal hurricane forecast from Phil Klotzbach and his group at Colorado State was released this morning: They continue to call for a very active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. The new forecast calls for 20 named storms (including the five that have already formed), nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). CSU has chosen six analogs for its July seasonal hurricane forecast: 1966, 1995, 2003, 2008, 2011 and 2016. All of these years had above-average Atlantic hurricane activity.

ON THIS DATE IN 2004: A tornado occurred in the Rockwell Pass area of Sequoia National Park, California. Since the elevation of the tornado’s ground circulation was approximately 12,156 feet from mean sea level, this is the highest-elevation tornado documented in the United States.

BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.

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For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.