James Spann: Rising heat levels for Alabama in coming days; dry pattern sets in
James Spann has the midweek forecast for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
ON THE MAPS: While an upper-level trough continues to bring lots of rain to parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas, an upper ridge will continue to build and strengthen over the eastern quarter of the U.S. in coming days. This ridge will bring dry weather to Alabama, and a pronounced warming trend. Look for a partly sunny sky today with a high in the low 80s; then, with a good supply of sunshine we reach the mid 80s Thursday and upper 80s Friday.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Look for sunny days and fair nights over the weekend with afternoon highs around 90 degrees; it will be the hottest weekend so far this year. The last time the high was 90 or higher in Birmingham was on Sept. 14, 2020, when the high was 91.
NEXT WEEK: The ridge stays in place. Temperatures will climb into the 92- to 96-degree range for the first half of the week, very close to record levels for late May in Alabama. The week looks generally dry; models hint our next chance of rain comes about nine or 10 days from now.
RAIN UPDATE: Here are rain totals for the year so far, and the departure from average:
- Mobile — 29.71 inches (5.41 inches above average)
- Huntsville — 27.11 (3.88 above average)
- Dothan — 26.46 (5.78 above average)
- Birmingham — 26.3 (2.71 above average)
- Muscle Shoals — 25.89 (3.77 above average)
- Tuscaloosa — 23.59 (1.3 above average)
- Montgomery — 20.17 (0.76 below average)
- Anniston — 16.67 (5.62 below average)
ON THIS DATE IN 1780: The infamous “dark day” in New England tradition. At noon, it was nearly as dark as night. Chickens went to roost, and many people were fearful of divine wrath. The “dark day” was caused by forest fires to the west of New England.
BEACH FORECAST: Click here to see the AlabamaWx Beach Forecast Center page.
WEATHER BRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute show any time on your favorite podcast app. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including the meteorologists at ABC 33/40.
CONNECT: You can find me on the major social networks:
For more weather news and information from James Spann and his team, visit AlabamaWx.
