Noon Update: The Heat is On
BACK TO WORK: Today will be a mainly dry day with the chance for rain and storms throughout southern portions of the state. For South/Central Alabama, it will not be quite as humid as it can be, but it will still be hot as afternoon highs will make their way into the lower and mid 90s today.
TROPICAL UPDATE: The Atlantic is mainly and no development is expected across the basin this week. However, disorganized showers and thunderstorms located several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands are associated with a tropical wave. Some gradual development is possible through the week while this system moves westward at about 20 mph across the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Over the next five days, the NHC gives this feature a 20% of development. In the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Eugene is a category 2 storm with with winds of 105 mph. Eugene is not expected to impact any land.
SOLAR ACTIVITY INTENSIFIES: Sunspot AR2665, which emerged just as few days ago, has mushroomed into a behemoth nearly as wide as the planet Jupiter. On July 9th the fast-growing sunspot produced an M-class solar flare and a short-lived shortwave radio blackout over east Asia and Australia. Stronger flares and Earth-directed CMEs may be in the offing as AR2665 turns toward our planet in the days ahead.
REST OF THIS WEEK: It’s that old summer-time routine as showers and storms are possible across the area each and every day. Expect the days to feature more sun than clouds, with hot and humid conditions. Each afternoon should feature highs in the lower to mid 90s, and also each afternoon we are going to see showers and storms pop-up randomly across the Alabama landscape. No way of knowing when and where these will develop. They will last about an hour, produce gusty winds, brief downpours, and of course very frequent lightning. These are driven by daytime heating, so as as soon as the sun sets, the convection will generally wind down as well.
Have a magnificent Monday and stay cool this week!
Ryan
