James Spann: Alabama stays dry through the weekend with lower humidity, cooler nights
James Spann forecasts dry days for Alabama through the weekend from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
AIR MASS CHANGE: A surge of dry air is rolling into Alabama this morning following a cold front. Look for sunshine in full supply today with a fresh north breeze and lower humidity. The high today will be between 81 and 84 degrees for most places; the average high for Birmingham on Sept. 9 is 88. Tonight will be the coolest night so far this season; with a clear sky, we project lows between 53 and 63 degrees early Friday morning.
FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: The weather will stay dry with sunny, warm days and clear, pleasant nights. The highs will be in the mid 80s Friday, followed by upper 80s over the weekend. Lows will be mostly in the low to mid 60s.
NEXT WEEK: Dry weather continues Monday, but we will bring the chance of a few scattered showers and storms Tuesday as moisture levels begin to rise. We expect scattered to numerous showers and storms Wednesday through Friday as an upper trough sets up a little west of the state. Highs next week will be in the 80s.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Expect perfect weather for the high school games across the state Friday night; the sky will be clear with temperatures falling from the upper 70s at kickoff into the upper 60s by the final whistle.
Saturday, Auburn hosts Alabama State at Jordan-Hare Stadium (11 a.m. kickoff). Look for a sunny sky during the game with temperatures rising from near 84 degrees at kickoff to around 87 by the fourth quarter. Alabama will host Mercer at Bryant-Denny Stadium (3 p.m. kickoff). The sky will be sunny with temperatures falling from 88 degrees at kickoff to near 80 degrees by the end of the game.
UAB is on the road, taking on the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens (2:30 p.m. CT kickoff). The sky will be sunny with a temperature of about 85 degrees at kickoff, falling to near 80 by the final whistle. Jacksonville State is also on the road Saturday, taking on Florida State in Tallahassee (7 p.m. CT kickoff). A passing shower or storm is possible during the first half; otherwise the sky will be mostly fair with temperatures hovering between 78 and 82 degrees during the game.
TROPICS: Mindy is a tropical depression south of Valdosta, Georgia early this morning, near the Georgia-Florida state line. Winds are 35 mph and the system is moving northeast at 20 mph. It will move into the Atlantic later today, away from the U.S.
Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Larry has winds of 100 mph and is about 240 miles east of Bermuda. It is bringing tropical storm conditions to Bermuda today. Larry moves to the coast of Newfoundland Friday night and then into the North Atlantic. The system won’t get close to the U.S., but it continues to bring big swells to the East Coast.
Elsewhere, the northern portion of a tropical wave over the western Caribbean Sea is forecast to emerge over the southern Bay of Campeche on Saturday. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive to support some gradual development of the system before it moves into mainland Mexico early next week. The National Hurricane Center gives it a 20% chance of development over the next five days.
A strong tropical wave is expected to emerge off the west coast of Africa Saturday. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for development thereafter, and a tropical depression could form by early next week as it moves west-northwestward over the far eastern Atlantic near the Cabo Verde Islands.
There are no systems threatening the central Gulf Coast for the next seven days.
ON THIS DATE IN 1965: Hurricane Betsy slammed into New Orleans, where winds of 110 mph and power failures were reported. The eye of the storm passed southwest of New Orleans on a northwesterly track. The northern and western eyewalls covered southeast Louisiana and the New Orleans area from about 8 p.m. until 4 the next morning. In Thibodaux, winds of 130 mph to 140 mph were reported. The Baton Rouge weather bureau operated under auxiliary power, without telephone communication.
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