Noon Update: Very Hot and Humid on this Last Official Day of Spring
THE HEAT IS ON: Our weather this week is being controlled by a surface high pressure in place across the Southeast. This is really hampering the development of afternoon showers and storms again today and will again be the issue tomorrow. Rain chances are low, but not zero, and we could see a few isolated showers. With the overall lack of rain and storms, heat levels are on the rise and this afternoon highs will range from the lower to mid 90s in Central Alabama, while a few upper 90s may show up in South Alabama. Of course we say in the Alabama it is not the heat, it is the humidity that gets us. With dewpoints in the 70s and temps in the 90s, heat index values are approaching the lower 100s. Please stay hydrated out there!
REST OF THE WEEK: The upper ridge currently in place across the Southeast will be weakened by the approach of a fairly strong closed low coming out of the northern Rockies late tonight and tomorrow. This system will bring a cold front down into the northern portion of the Southeast on Thursday and Friday. With precipitable water values surging higher late Wednesday and into Thursday, showers and thunderstorms should become numerous once again for Thursday and lingering into Friday due to the presence of the front. There is a small risk that a few storms could produce severe weather primarily in the form of damaging wind as instability values surge on Thursday and Friday.
THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: Our first weekend of summer will feature pretty routine summer weather. For both days, it will be hot and humid with highs ranging from the upper 80s to lower 90s. Of course, scattered showers and storms are expected, mainly during the afternoon and evening hours. Late Sunday and into the middle of next week, the upper flow pattern goes pretty close to zonal, so the surface front will remain stalled just north of us through Tuesday. While much of Alabama will see a return to the diurnally driven showers and storms, areas closer to the weak frontal boundary may see more numerous storms.
TROPICAL OUTLOOK: For the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next five days.
Have a great day!
Ryan
