James Spann: Most of Alabama stays dry through Friday, then tropical rain arrives for the weekend
James Spann has the midweek forecast for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
REFRESHING MORNING: A dry air mass is allowing temperatures to fall into the 50s in many areas this morning. Some of the cooler spots at sunrise:
- Black Creek — 55
- Cullman — 56
- Fort Payne — 56
- Haleyville — 57
- Pell City — 57
- Gadsden — 58
- Hueytown — 58
- Cottondale — 58
- Weaver — 58
- Scottsboro — 59
- Vance — 59
- Sylacauga — 59
Today will be another sunny day with a high in the mid to upper 80s, and the humidity will remain low for mid-June. Dry weather continues Thursday, but some rain could move into extreme south Alabama Friday as a tropical low in the Gulf of Mexico approaches the coast. The northern two-thirds of the state will remain rain-free Friday with afternoon highs around 90 degrees.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Rain will spread into the state Saturday. It is too early to forecast the exact time the rain begins for any given point since the tropical system still doesn’t have a well-defined low-level center. Once that happens, and we get dropsonde data from reconnaissance aircraft, we will have better clarity on the timing. Rain should be fairly widespread across the entire state Saturday night and Sunday, and the rain could be heavy at times. We will also have to watch for embedded thunderstorms Sunday that try to rotate; sometimes tropical lows like this can produce a few brief, isolated tornadoes. Highs Saturday and Sunday will be between 78 and 82 degrees.
NEXT WEEK: The chance of rain will remain high Monday, but we trend drier Tuesday and over the latter half of the week.
TROPICS: Bill has become post-tropical in the north Atlantic, and the disturbance in the far eastern Atlantic has pretty much dissipated due to dry air. The focus is on the Bay of Campeche in the far southwest Gulf of Mexico, where the National Hurricane Center has an 80% chance of tropical depression formation by the end of the week.
The depression will move in the general direction of the Louisiana coast by Friday night or Saturday morning, and will bring potential for heavy rain to the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Rain amounts of 4-8 inches are likely in the broad zone from Morgan City to Panama City Beach, and the rip-current danger will be high Friday and over the weekend; expect double red flags. The weather on the Gulf Coast will begin to improve Monday.
ON THIS DATE IN 1896: A tsunami ravaged the coast of Japan, killing between 22,000 and 27,000 people.
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