Oh So Nice Weather; Rain and Storms Return by the Weekend

OH SO NICE!!!: With the clear sky overnight, we are starting our Wednesday off rather chilly with temperatures in the 40s in most locations. For today, expect a sunny and pleasant day with highs generally in the lower 70s. Tonight will be another chilly one with lows by first thing tomorrow morning in the 40s again. Tomorrow will start off sunny, but we should begin to see clouds increase through the afternoon and highs will reach the mid and upper 70s.

FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND: We are getting better model agreement today on the weekend forecast. Rain returns to Alabama Friday, and we should see periods of rain through the day and likely Friday night as an upper trough approaches from the west. No severe weather worries Friday, and probably no thunder, just a soaking rain, especially for areas of West Alabama. The high Friday will be around 70°.

The rain looks to continue into Saturday as the surface low lifts north west of the area, causing a warm front to lift northward across the state. This could allow of instability values to increase across the state ahead of an approaching cold front and we may have to deal with some thunderstorms on Saturday as the front swings into the state, so we will mention that in the forecast, and also, we will have to watch for the possibility of some strong storms as well. Still several days to watch this, but just something to note for now. The front looks to stall across portions of Southeast Alabama on Sunday as it loses its upper-level support. This means we will need to maintain a mainly cloudy and mild forecast with scattered showers on Sunday.

FOOTBALL WEATHER: For the high school games Friday night, the sky will be cloudy with a good chance of rain; temperatures will be in the low 60s.

For Saturday’s Magic City Classic at Legion Field in Birmingham (Alabama State vs Alabama A&M, 2:30p CT kickoff), the sky will be mostly cloudy, and some rain is likely. Kickoff temperature near 64 degrees, falling into the low 60s by the final whistle.

Auburn travels to Baton Rouge Saturday to take on LSU (2:30p CT kickoff)… for now we are forecasting a mix of sun and clouds, with a passing shower possible during the game. Temperatures will fall from the upper 60s at kickoff into the mid 60s by the fourth quarter.

It is homecoming at the University of Alabama Saturday; the Tide will host Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium (6:00p CT kickoff). Look for a cloudy sky with a few periods of rain. Temperatures will fall from the low 60s at kickoff into the upper 50s by the final whistle.

INTO NEXT WEEK: For the first part of next week with the front stalled across portions of South Alabama, we will forecast more clouds than sun, with showers remaining in the forecast Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Around midweek, we should see a cold front bring drier and much cooler weather back to state for Thursday and Friday.

IN THE TROPICS: We are still in hurricane season, but we are getting late in the season when things really begin to calm down, but still the season continues through November 30th. There is one area of interest:

Disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize and Guatemala are associated with a tropical wave. This system is forecast to move west-northwestward and emerge over the far southwestern Gulf of Mexico by late Thursday. Some development is then possible on Friday near the east coast of Mexico before the disturbance likely becomes absorbed by a cold front this weekend. Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent.

Have a great day!
Ryan