Noon Update: Finally, Some Lower Humidity

TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY: We go rain-free today and Thursday and these two days will be sunny with lower humidity and cooler nights. Highs in the 80s, lows well down in the 60s. Some of the traditionally cooler spots could see upper 50s early Thursday and Friday morning.

USA BRIEF: Major Hurricane Lane continues to inch closer to Hawaii with Hurricane Warning in effect for Hawaii County, Hurricane Watches for Maui County and Oahu and a flash flood watch for all of Hawaii. Meanwhile, monsoon moisture may produce locally heavy rain and flash flooding in the Four Corners. Finally, air quality concerns persist across the Northwest with smoke from ongoing western wildfires

STEVE IS NOT AN AURORA: For decades, amateur astronomers in Canada have been photographing a purple ribbon of light dancing alongside auroras during some geomagnetic storms. Nicknamed “STEVE”, the ribbon belatedly caught the attention of the scientific community in 2016. They thought it might be a form of aurora. However, new research published yesterday in the Geophysical Research Letters suggests that STEVE is not an aurora at all, but rather something new and mysterious.

HUMIDITY RETURNS: Moisture begins to return to from east Friday, but for now we will mention only a slight risk of a shower. Otherwise, Friday will be partly to mostly sunny with a high in the upper 80s. Then for the weekend, we will forecast a partly sunny Saturday and Sunday with widely scattered, mostly afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms. Chance of any one spot getting wet is only about one in five, and highs will be in the upper 80s both days.

NEXT WEEK: There is still a whole lot of summer left for Alabama and heat levels will creep up with highs reaching the low 90s on most afternoons as an upper high begins to rebuild; afternoon showers and storms should remain widely scattered.

TROPICAL UPDATE: For the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico: Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days. Over in the Central Pacific, Hurricane Lane is packing sustained winds of 160 mph, and is expected to make a turn toward the Hawaiian Islands over the next 48 hours. There could be significant impact to Hawaii, although the storm should be in a slowly weakening phase later this week.

Have a great day!
Ryan