Published On: 03.10.21 | 

By: James Spann

James Spann: Warm afternoons, dry air for most of Alabama through Sunday

MILD MARCH AFTERNOON: A few scattered cirrus clouds are over Alabama today at high altitudes; otherwise the sky is mostly sunny with temperatures in the 70s. The sky will stay mostly fair tonight with a low between 45 and 55 degrees.

THURSDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND: An upper ridge will keep most of the state dry with partly sunny days, warm afternoons and fair nights. The high will be in the mid to upper 70s Thursday, followed by highs between 78 and 82 degrees Friday and over the weekend. A few isolated showers could show up over the Tennessee Valley of far north Alabama, but even there rain amounts will be very light and very spotty.

To the west, a significant storm system will form that will bring a huge snow event to much of Colorado and Wyoming, and the risk of severe thunderstorms to parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

NEXT WEEK: A batch of showers and storms will move into the state from about midnight Sunday night through noon Sunday. For now the severe weather threat looks low, with very limited surface-based instability and weakening wind fields. Another round of rain and storms is likely late Tuesday night into Wednesday; it’s too early to know whether that will bring a severe weather threat. Highs will be in the 70s Monday through Wednesday, dropping back into the 60s Thursday and Friday.

ON THIS DATE IN 1986: Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. A total of 19 tornadoes occurred. Three of the tornadoes in Indiana reached F3 intensity. A densely populated subdivision of southeast Lexington, Kentucky, was heavily damaged by a tornado. Twenty people were injured and 900 homes were destroyed or demolished. A very strong thunderstorm downburst hit the Cincinnati area. At the Greater Cincinnati Airport, windows were blown out of the control tower, injuring the six controllers on duty.

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