The Long Dry Spell Continues
FOR THURSDAY: After another clear and cool start, another great-looking day will be taking shape. The clear sky will once again stick around for the entire day, there could certainly be a few high clouds possible, but for the most part, it will be sunshine and blue sky. It will be a warmer day across Central Alabama, with highs reaching the upper 80s. Once again, no rain and no relief to our drought situation.
BERMUDA BRACING FOR NICOLE: At 500 AM AST, the eye of Hurricane Nicole was located
near latitude 31.1 North, longitude 65.8 West. Nicole is moving toward the north-northeast near 15 mph. A turn toward the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today. On the forecast track, the core of Nicole will pass near Bermuda later this morning. Maximum sustained winds remain near 130 mph with higher gusts. Nicole is an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Although a gradual weakening is forecast, Nicole is expected to be at major hurricane strength when it moves near Bermuda later today.
Nicole is a large tropical cyclone. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 65 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 175 miles. Bermuda International Airport has recently reported sustained winds of 43 mph with a gust to 62 mph. The latest minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force Reserve
Hurricane Hunter aircraft is 952 mb (28.12 inches).
CHANCE OF MAGNETIC STORMS: NOAA forecasters say that a minor coronal mass ejection (CME) could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field late on Oct. 13th. Not long after, a high-speed stream of solar wind is expected to arrive. The combined effect of the CME plus the solar wind stream could spark G1-class polar geomagnetic storms on Oct. 13th and 14th.
HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND: A weak surface front will be just northwest of Alabama, and there is a chance a few widely scattered showers could form over the far northern part of the state Friday and into Saturday. Don’t get your hopes up though as moisture will be very limited, and rain amounts, if any, will be light and spotty. Most of the state will stay dry with a partly to mostly sunny sky. The high Friday will be in the mid around 90°, followed by mid 80s Saturday. Sunday’s weather will remain dry with a good supply of sunshine and highs should be in the lower 80s for most locations Sunday afternoon.
FOOTBALL WEATHER: Clear for the high school games Friday night with temperatures falling from the low 70s at kickoff into the mid 60s by the fourth quarter.
Alabama will play at Tennessee in Knoxville Saturday afternoon (2:30p CT kickoff)… expect a cloudy periods with a few scattered showers possible. About 76 at kickoff, falling to near 70 by the final whistle.
Auburn has the week off.
NEW WEEK, SAME FORECAST: The first half of the week, will still feature more sun than clouds, and temperatures in the upper 80s for highs and lows in the 60. We stay dry through Wednesday, but we do see a little hope in the forecast. Late next week, the models are grabbing onto the idea of a storm system move across the Southeast, which suggest our best chance of rain in quite some time. Still not completely sold on this idea, but at least there is something finally showing up, giving us a bit hope.
Have a superb Thursday!!!
Ryan
