James Spann: Alabama showers, storms to increase in coming days
RADAR CHECK: We have a few scattered showers and thunderstorms across central Alabama at mid-afternoon, in a broad band from near Centreville to Clanton to Auburn. The showers are drifting north and will end after sunset. The rest of the state has a partly sunny sky, and temperatures are mostly between 87 and 91 degrees.
FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: An upper trough will approach, the air becomes more unstable and we expect an increase in the number of scattered showers and thunderstorms Friday and over the weekend. This won’t be an all-day kind of rain or a washout, but we are forecasting scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms each day. Most of the showers (but not necessarily all) will come from 1 until 11 p.m., and the chance of any one spot getting wet each day is 55-65%. Highs will be in the upper 80s Friday and Saturday, followed by mid 80s Sunday.
NEXT WEEK: The weather looks fairly wet Monday and Tuesday; we will forecast a good chance of showers and storms both days with deep moisture in place and a trough overhead. Showers should thin out over the latter half of the week.
TROPICS: Shower activity has become a little more concentrated over the past couple of hours in association with a non-tropical area of low pressure several hundred miles south-southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland. However, environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for tropical or subtropical development while the low accelerates northeastward through tonight. By Friday, the low is expected to open up into a trough of low pressure to the south of Atlantic Canada. The rest of the Atlantic basin is quiet and tropical storm formation is not expected through early next week.
ON THIS DATE IN 1980: Birmingham’s official high was 102 degrees. Alabama and much of the southern U.S. was in the midst of one of the greatest heat waves of all time. It still rates as one of the hottest Alabama summers on record. Starting on July 10, 1980, daily maximum temperatures at Birmingham were 101, 102, 104, 106, 103, 102, 105 and 105. The string of triple-digit heat was finally broken July 18, when powerful storms formed at mid-afternoon, cooling down the temperature just shy of the 100-degree mark.
Around the nation, the heat wave claimed anywhere between 1,250 and 10,000 lives. Also because of the massive drought, agricultural damage estimates totaled more than $50 billion when adjusted for inflation. In Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, high temperatures exceeded 100 for 69 days between June 23 and Sept. 6. Dallas/Fort Worth reached an all-time high on June 26-27, soaring to 113 on both days. In the summer of 1980 in Dallas/Fort Worth, 29 days either tied or broke records for those respective dates. Wichita Falls, Texas, would hit 119, the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Texas.
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.
