James Spann: Alabama stays dry through the weekend, with warm days, pleasant nights
James Spann forecasts a sunny weekend for Alabama from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
REFRESHING MORNING: Here are temperatures across Alabama just before sunrise:
- Fort Payne — 53
- Heflin — 54
- Decatur — 55
- Huntsville — 55
- Cullman — 55
- Albertville — 55
- Haleyville — 55
- Gadsden — 55
- Pell City — 55
- Talladega — 56
- Bessemer — 56
- Hueytown — 56
- Anniston — 57
- Alexander City — 57
- Bluff Park — 57
- Selma — 57
- Muscle Shoals — 58
- Montgomery — 59
- Prattville — 59
- Tuscaloosa — 60
- Dothan — 62
- Mobile — 64
The air is very dry, and sunny weather will continue today with a high in the mid 80s. Expect lots of sunshine Saturday and Sunday with highs in the upper 80s and lows in the 60s.
NEXT WEEK: The weather stays dry Monday, but we will bring in a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms Tuesday through Thursday. Then, another shot of cooler, drier air arrives on Friday. Highs will be in the 80s through the week, with lows mostly in the 60s, although it looks like we will go back into the 50s by Friday morning.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Expect perfect weather for the high school games across the state tonight; 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 has fizzled off the South Atlantic Coast of the U.S. Larry, still a hurricane with winds of 85 mph, will clip the coast of Newfoundland tonight, then become post tropical over the North Atlantic Saturday.
Elsewhere, the northern portion of a tropical wave is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms over Honduras, the western Caribbean Sea and portions of the Yucatan Peninsula. This system is forecast to move into the Bay of Campeche and merge with a pre-existing surface trough over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico by this weekend. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive to support gradual development, and a tropical depression could form Sunday or Monday before the system moves onshore along the western Gulf of Mexico coast.
In the far eastern Atlantic, a strong tropical wave is expected to emerge off the west coast of Africa later today or tonight. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for development thereafter, and a tropical depression is likely to form by early next week as the system moves west-northwestward over the far eastern Atlantic near the Cabo Verde Islands. Interests in the Cabo Verde Islands should monitor the progress of this system.
No systems will threaten the central Gulf Coast through the middle of next week. We should note Sept. 10 is the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.
ON THIS DATE IN 1960: The center of Hurricane Donna passed over the middle of the Florida Keys between 2 and 3 a.m. Donna was a Category 5 hurricane over the Atlantic and a Category 4 at landfall. This storm caused the deaths of more than 100 people in Puerto Rico and 50 in the United States.
ON THIS DATE IN 2017: Hurricane Irma crossed the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm.
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